The United Nations said in a press release on Wednesday that it faces a sharp cutback in donations for multiple relief efforts in Yemen, forcing sharp reductions or outright elimination of half of agency managed programs to ease the impact of famine and disease
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2020) The United Nations said in a press release on Wednesday that it faces a sharp cutback in donations for multiple relief efforts in Yemen, forcing sharp reductions or outright elimination of half of agency managed programs to ease the impact of famine and disease.
"We have a moral obligation to warn the world that millions of Yemenis will suffer and could die because we don't have the funding we need," Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande said in the release.
The release warned that 12 of 38 major United Nations programs for Yemen have either shut down due to lack of money or have reduced aid, with another 20 programs likely to join the list by the end of September.
If new funds fail to arrive in the coming weeks, 50 percent of water and sanitation services, medicines and essential supplies for 189 hospitals and 2,500 clinics - half of the nation's health facilities will need to be cut, the release said.
As a result, thousands of children who now suffer from malnutrition and disease will likely die and at least 70 percent of the nation's schools will either close or cease functioning.
Since 2014, civil war pitting the internationally recognized government against Houthi rebels followed by a Saudi led intervention in 2015 and a blockade led to what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
With a funding shortfall of about $1 billion this year, nearly 80 percent of the population - more than 24 million people - require humanitarian aid to survive, according to the United Nations.
