May 04, 2026 07:13 pm (IST)
Follow us:
UN urges support for Yemenis in need of assistance
New York, May 16 (IBNS): Nearly 15 million people in Yemen - over half the population - are in need of some form of humanitarian aid this year, the top United Nations relief official in the country said on Thursday, urging the international community to provide the critical funds necessary for the response.
Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the newly-appointed UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, told a news conference in Geneva that the international community needs to come forward with substantial funding to implement the 2014 response plan for Yemen, which remains alarmingly under-funded. Only 18 per cent of the USD 592 million needed for 2014 has so far been secured.
“The continuing humanitarian needs in Yemen are no longer as high on the agenda of the international community as they should be, in our view,” said Van Der Klaauw, who is also the Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Yemen, noting that global attention is on other crises such as Syria, Central African Republic and South Sudan.
“We have a population of more than 25 million Yemenis, of which 14.7 million on Thursday is in need of any sort of humanitarian assistance. This is more than half of the population,” he said. Of these, 7.6 million people have been identified as the most needy and for whom the international community developed the USD 592 million.
Of those in need, 10.5 Yemenis are food insecure, 13 million have no access to clean water or adequate sanitation, and 8.6 million have no access to health care, including reproductive health services. In addition, over one million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished.
The UN official stressed the need to address the underlying factors of the crisis.
“The real problem in Yemen is not one of a humanitarian nature… but of a developmental nature,” he said, citing factors such as structural underdevelopment, a chronic lack of services, weak governance and the rule of law, all of which leaves the country in a very “fragile” state.
“The Government should take ownership of working on these needs… to address the drivers of vulnerability, the underlying factors of this crisis,” he added.
Yemen has been undergoing a political transition, with a Government of National Unity, which came to power in an election in February 2012 following protests that led to the resignation of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Van Der Klaauw emphasized that the country’s humanitarian issues must be mainstreamed into other political and security processes.
“If we don’t address the humanitarian needs on Thursday, the population will lose faith in the transition process. If the ordinary Yemeni doesn’t know whether on Friday he or she will have something to eat… they will lose faith in the transition process.”
(Nearly 15 million people in Yemen, such as this family living in a temporary shelter, are in need of some form of humanitarian aid this year. OCHA/Eman al Awami)
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
What happened in Morocco? Two US troops go missing amid military exercises, rescue op underway
Mon, May 04 2026
Madness in Seoul: Pokémon event cancelled in South Korea after 40,000 people assemble in forest
Sun, May 03 2026
Israel sent secret laser shield to UAE during Iran attacks: Report
Fri, May 01 2026
Abuse of women journalists made ‘easier and more damaging’ by AI: Study unveils on World Press Freedom Day
Fri, May 01 2026
Indian-born population tops Australia’s foreign-born list, overtaking England after a century
Fri, May 01 2026
UAE leaves OPEC, OPEC+ amid global energy crisis
Tue, Apr 28 2026
'One equals four': Iran issues ‘quadruple strike’ warning to Gulf nations after Trump's threats
Mon, Apr 27 2026