Aden, Yemen, March 17, 2022 — Tamuna Sabadze, IRC Yemen Country Director said:
“The IRC is deeply disappointed that donors failed to robustly fund the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen for the third year straight. 36 donors pledged a total of $1.3 billion at the conference, while the humanitarian response requires $4.27 billion, which means the plan is currently only 30% funded leaving a colossal $3 billion shortfall - this gap will cost lives. The consistent year-on-year underfunding has already resulted in cuts to lifesaving programs such as food distributions, health services, cash assistance, and education in Yemen, where over 23 million people - 80% of the population are in need of critical humanitarian assistance.
“The substantial increase in pledges from the US and European Commission are welcome but more donors need to stand in solidarity with the Yemeni people who are bearing the brunt of this war.
“While more funding is needed, humanitarian support cannot replace a functioning economy. Donors must utilize all diplomatic tools and channels available to them to find a political solution to this crisis, including bringing warring parties into peace negotiations and reinstating an accountability mechanism to hold those responsible for violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen to account.”
The IRC has been working in Yemen since 2012 and rapidly scaled our programming in 2015 to address greater humanitarian needs caused by the conflict. While the ongoing conflict creates challenges for our operations, the IRC has maintained access to affected populations and continues to provide life-saving services, including treatment for malnutrition, healthcare, water and sanitation, cash assistance as well as case management services and education programming.