Yemen: UN donor conference raises a ‘disappointing’ $1.7 billion

A virtual conference held by the United Nations and co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland fell far short of its aid goal for Yemen — with experts concerned about preventing large-scale famine from “engulfing” the war-torn country.
More than 100 governments and donors had worked to raise a targeted $3.85 billion (€3.19 billion) to help civilians caught in what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
In the end, only $1.7 billion was pledged.
After the conference concluded, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the pledged amounts as “disappointing.”
Falling far short of expectations, funding was “less than we received for the humanitarian response plan in 2020 and a billion dollars less than what was pledged at the conference we held in 2019,” he said in a statement.
“For most people, life in Yemen is now unbearable. Childhood in Yemen is a special kind of hell. Yemeni children are starving,” said Guterres.
Guterres called for countries to “consider again what they can do to help stave off the worst famine the world has seen in decades.”