UN: Yemen’s humanitarian response plan for 2018 needs $3 billion

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator and the United Nations Resident Representative in Yemen, Jimmy McGoldrick, launched on Sunday the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen in 2018.

McGoldrick told a news conference that the UN plan to help the Yemeni people in 2018 needs $ 2.96 billion.

The plan identified more than 22 million people in need of assistance, and 11.3 million are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

The UN coordinator noted that 11 million people in Yemen need potable water, 5 million children are in need of healthy nutrition, and 50% of health centers in Yemen are no longer functioning.

He also said that 8 million people are in the case of severe food insecurity, adding that the plan seeks to provide assistance to these people.

Moreover, the Resident Representative stressed that the efforts of the international organization failed to reopen Sana’a International Airport despite the submission of several proposals that were met with rejection by the Saudi-led coalition.

He pointed out that the organization has a team in Riyadh that deals with issues of humanitarian air flights and marine travels, as well as securing the organization’s sites from air raids.

He pointed to the organization’s efforts to ensure that the port of Hudayda remains open due to its importance in its humanitarian work.

It is reported that the period of work of the Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Resident Representative Jimmy McGoldrick is over as he will leave Yemen next week.

The Saudi-led coalition launched in March 2015 a war on Yemen, which destroyed thousands of homes, service and health facilities, infrastructure and commercial and industrial facilities, and resulted in the death and injury of more than 36 thousand civilians.

On the other hand, the Saudi blockade and the closure of the Yemeni ports have also led to the deterioration of the economic, living and health conditions of civilians, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.