translated from Spanish: UN: 16 million people will go hungry in Yemen this year

More than 16 million people in Yemen will go hungry this year, with more than half a million already in famine, a UN humanitarian agency warned Sunday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHOA) said the risk of widespread famine in the arab world’s poorest country “has never been more acute,” and that years of conflict, economic decline and institutional collapse created enormous humanitarian needs in all sectors. The harsh warning was made a day after a engagement conference by Sweden and Switzerland. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will request a $3.85 billion relief fund for Yemen this year. The response to the UN’s request is unlikely to meet expectations, as the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating consequences hit the world’s economies. Wealthy Persian Gulf donors such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who contributed generously to UN requests in 2018 and 2019, last year drastically reduced aid to Yemen’s Yemen.La war began in 2014 when Houthi rebels took control of the capital, Saná, and much of the north of the country. The Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition intervened months later to expel the rebels and restore the internationally recognized government. About 130,000 people have been killed during the conflict and the world’s worst humanitarian disaster has emerged.

Original source in Spanish