A new package of UK aid worth £160million will help fight
coronavirus and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen,
Foreign Secretary announced today.
Speaking ahead of today’s UN conference on Yemen’s
humanitarian crisis, the Foreign Secretary, , said:
“This targeted UK aid package will mean the difference
between life and death for thousands of Yemenis who now also face
the threat of coronavirus. Our support will help ensure families
can feed themselves and access clean water and medical
care.
“I pay tribute to aid workers on the frontline who are
working around the clock to get help to where it is needed. To
achieve lasting peace, Yemeni leaders must urgently agree to the
UN Special Envoy’s peace plan to bring an end to this terrible
conflict.”
Even before the pandemic, Yemen was already experiencing
the largest humanitarian crisis in the world with more than 24
million people, over 80% of the population, requiring some form
of assistance. Nearly a quarter of Yemen’s districts have no
doctors and only half of the country’s health facilities are
still functional, with 20 million people lacking any access to
them medical care.
The Foreign Secretary is expected to tell delegates at the
virtual UN High Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis
in Yemen that aid workers will struggle to only be able to
deliver this assistance if unless the restrictions placed upon
them, particularly by the Houthis, are lifted.
The UK’s package, from the UK’s Department for
International Development (DFID), will help to tackle the spread
of COVID-19 in Yemen and expects to provide over 700,000 medical
consultations, train 12,000 healthcare workers to work safely in
a COVID-19 environment, and provide a much-needed boost to nearly
4,000 health centres to continue providing existing health
services.
International Development Secretary said:
“Yemen is suffering the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis with millions of people at risk of starvation. The ongoing
conflict as well as the coronavirus outbreak could make what is
already a dire situation worse.
“The UK continues to be at the forefront of the
humanitarian response. Today’s UK aid pledge will help feed
millions of Yemenis who face constant uncertainty over when they
will eat their next meal.”
The new funding also aims to provide support to at least
300,000 vulnerable people each month to help them buy food and
household essentials, treat 40,000 children for malnutrition and
provide 1 million people with improved water supply and basic
sanitation.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
· The
new package takes the total amount of UK funding since the
conflict began to £970 million. This support has provided urgent
funding for food supplies for vulnerable households as well as
health care and sexual and reproductive health services.
· The
World Health Organisation’s “optimistic” estimate is that over an
18 month period there will be over 16 million coronavirus cases
in the country. The death toll will be significantly higher if
access for health workers and aid agencies remains
restricted.
· DFID
has already provided £150 million to the IMF’s Catastrophe
Containment and Relief Trust, will provide the world’s poorest
countries, including Yemen, with IMF debt relief over the next
six months.
· UN
data shows that restrictions on access, particularly in Houthi
controlled areas, are now affecting the delivery of assistance to
almost 9 million people across Yemen, an all-time high.
