Today, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced nearly $191 million in additional humanitarian assistance at the virtual 2021 High Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. Combined with the nearly $160 million provided at the end of last year, the United States has provided more than $350 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021. In total, the United States—one of the largest donors to the humanitarian response—has provided more than $3.4 billion to alleviate the suffering of the people of Yemen since the crisis began six years ago.
The assistance announced today includes funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the UN World Food Program for emergency food assistance, as well as support for our partners delivering other crucial aid, such as preventing and treating severe malnutrition, rehabilitating water systems, repairing roads to improve access to vulnerable communities, and supporting families to help them earn an income and rebuild their livelihoods. Every month, our programs help more than 8.5 million people in Yemen.
We remain committed to delivering aid to Yemen’s most vulnerable people, who have endured six years of conflict. We commend the generous pledges made by other donors at today’s event. USAID urgently calls on donors to fulfill these pledges quickly, and to rapidly scale up assistance as well as urge those who have not yet stepped up to help to do so.
The assistance announced today is vital to saving lives and reducing suffering, but it must be able to reach the people who need it most. We again call on all authorities across northern and southern Yemen to cease interference in aid operations to ensure assistance is reaching its intended recipients.
Humanitarian assistance also cannot solve the root causes of this crisis; there must be a political solution to this conflict. To that end, the United States calls on the parties to join the process led by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and supported by the reinvigorated diplomatic efforts of U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking to end the conflict in Yemen.
We are committed to working with international partners to bring peace to Yemen.
For the latest updates on USAID’s humanitarian assistance in Yemen, click here: