1 March 2021

Disappointing Outcome of Yemen Funding Conference Mere ‘Down Payment’ to Prevent Famine, Secretary-General Says, Asking Donors to Boost Pledges

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

The outcome of today’s High-Level Pledging Event on Yemen is disappointing. Pledges announced total approximately $1.7 billion.  That is less than we received for the humanitarian response plan in 2020, and a billion dollars less than was pledged at the conference we held in 2019.

Millions of Yemeni children, women and men desperately need aid to live.  Cutting aid is a death sentence.  The best that can be said about today is that it represents a down payment.  I thank those who did pledge generously, and I ask others to consider again what they can do to help stave off the worst famine the world has seen in decades.

In the end, the only path to peace is through an immediate, nationwide ceasefire and a set of confidence-building measures, followed by an inclusive, Yemeni-led political process under United Nations auspices and supported by the international community.  There is no other solution.

The United Nations will continue to stand in solidarity with the starving people of Yemen.

For information media. Not an official record.