UN suspends Yemen relief projects over funding shortages

January 5, 2022 \

Yemeni refugees are seen as they are living under miserable conditions at makeshift tents during cold weather in Taiz, Yemen on November 20, 2021. [Abdulnasser Alseddik - Anadolu Agency]

January 5, 2022 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) yesterday announced the suspension of vital relief programmes in Yemen due to a lack of funding.

"Lack of funding is forcing aid agencies to cut or reduce some critical assistance programs, including food, nutrition, health and WASH," OCHA said on Twitter.

The UN organisation stressed that funding was "urgently needed to sustain life-saving interventions for millions who rely on humanitarian assistance."

The UN said recently that some 24 million Yemenis, out of the country's 30 million population, were "in need of humanitarian assistance."

For nearly seven years, impoverished Yemen has been mired in a bloody war between the pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control several governorates, including the capital city of Sanaa.

The conflict has led to one of the worst humanitarian and economic crises in the world, and left its entire population dependent on aid, according to the UN official data.

READ: Funds shortage forces UN WFP to cut food aid to Yemen