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The condition of a Yemeni boy who is starving and suffering from malnutrition as a result of his country being hit by war. The destruction of this country will be even worse because it is affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Photo/REUTERS
The United Nations and aid groups have warned of serious consequences for Yemen after an international pledge conference failed to raise enough money to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Arab country.
Overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine, aid-starved Yemen is already suffering from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. According to the United Nations, the country is already on the verge of complete collapse.
With the country almost completely dependent on imports, aid groups say the situation will only worsen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which produces nearly a third of Yemen’s grain supply.
About 80 percent of its roughly 30 million people depend on aid for survival, after seven years of conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, directly or indirectly.
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The United Nations voiced disappointment after a conference on Wednesday raised less than a third of its target to help Yemen’s 17.3 million people in need.
The world body has repeatedly warned that aid agencies are running out of funds, forcing them to cut “lifesaving” programs.
“A lack of funds means people’s needs will not be met,” Auke Lootsma, permanent representative of the United Nations Development Program for Yemen, told AFPSaturday (19/3/2022).
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