NordenBladet — Yemen is currently facing the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the world. Following three years of armed conflict, 75 percent of the population, 22.2 million people, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Two million Yemenites have been forced to flee internally and are thus in even greater need of help in their homeland.
“It is almost impossible to understand the extent of the sufferings in Yemen. Starving mothers are trying to save their starving children while the civil war is raging. Further, the warring parties frequently put obstacles in the way so that emergency aid cannot reach those who need it the most. I am pleased that Denmark is contributing with DKK 70 million so we can continue to help to the vulnerable civilian population in Yemen,” says Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs.
Last year, the UN and its humanitarian partners succeeded in delivering emergency aid to 10 million people in Yemen despite hostilities and difficult humanitarian access. In 2017, Denmark provided direct humanitarian support to the Yemen crisis for a total of DKK 219 million.
8.4 million people are facing famine and around 1.8 million children and more than 1 million pregnant women or nursing mothers suffer from acute malnutrition. In addition, Yemen is affected by a cholera outbreak where more than 1 million people are presumed to have been infected within the last year.
The latest Danish funding allocation for Yemen is dispersed with DKK 35 million for the World Food Programmes efforts to prevent famine and with DKK 35 million for the UN’s Humanitarian Country-Based Pooled Fund, which supports and coordinates life-saving relief efforts.
By 2018 humanitarian needs have increased due to, among other things, the blockade of the main Yemeni ports in November and December 2017 that reduced the level of emergency aid and commercial imports of food and fuel, leading to immense price increases and a deterioration of food security. Only half of the country’s health facilities function and 16 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation facilities, which increases the risk of disease spreading.
In addition to the latest contribution, Denmark is also donating DKK 100 million on a yearly basis to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). In the beginning of 2018, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator allocated a record amount of USD 50 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to the humanitarian efforts in Yemen in light of the escalating crisis. With its annual non-earmarked contribution to UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Denmark is thus contributing indirectly to humanitarian funds allocated to Yemen.
Source: um.dk
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