United Nations seeks $4.3 billion to cover Yemen 2023 humanitarian needs

The $4.3 billion appeal is almost double the $2.2 billion that the U.N. received in 2022 to fund its humanitarian program in Yemen. The U.N. had sought $4.27 billion for 2022.

The United Nations is seeking $4.3 billion at a pledging conference on February 27 to alleviate the suffering of millions of people in Yemen, where an eight-year civil war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country's population, need help and protection, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, which says the humanitarian needs in Yemen are “shocking.” Among those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable.

The United Nations and the crisis in Yemen

Monday's high-level gathering is co-hosted by Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.N. in the organisation’s Palais des Nations in Geneva. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will address donors on the dire humanitarian situation in the Arab world’s poorest country.

The $4.3 billion appeal is almost double the $2.2 billion that the U.N. received in 2022 to fund its humanitarian program in Yemen. The U.N. had sought $4.27 billion for 2022.

Monday’s conference comes as the global economy remains rattled by the yearlong Russian invasion of Ukraine. Inflation rates have surged over the past year across the world, forcing many governments to focus on elevating the needs of their own people.

Yemen’s conflict started in 2014, when the Iran-backed rebel Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition intervened months later, in early 2015, to try and dislodge the rebels and restore the internationally recognised government to power.