‘Yemen funds desperately needed to avert famine’

GENEVA: UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries Tuesday to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate, reports AFP.
"Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions," the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference.
"We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation," he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by "the world's largest hunger crisis".
Appealing to donors, he stressed that "a famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance".
The conference, co-hosted by the Swiss and Swedish foreign ministers, comes after the UN in February said Yemen needed $2.1 billion (1.9 billion euros) of aid this year alone.
The UN had warned that unless international donors stepped up their response the war-torn country faced a "serious risk of famine".

 

Yemen funds desperately needed to avert famine

GENEVA: UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries Tuesday to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate, reports AFP. Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions, the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference. We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation, he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by the worlds largest hunger crisis. Appealing to donors, he stressed that a famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance. The conference, co-hosted by the Swiss and Swedish foreign ministers, comes after the UN in February said Yemen needed $2.1 billion (1.9 billion euros) of aid this year alone. The UN had warned that unless international donors stepped up their response the war-torn country faced a serious risk of famine.