United Nations: Funding Gaps Exacerbate the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen
The United Nations has reiterated that critical funding gaps have contributed to exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, noting that it has received approximately one-third of what it needs to finance its humanitarian plan in the country for this year. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated in a recent report, "Yemen remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with an estimated 21.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance or protection in 2023." The report indicated that the humanitarian crisis has worsened due to critical funding gaps, global inflation, economic crisis, and access challenges. The report added that "by the end of August, the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 sought to raise $4.34 billion to assist 17.3 million people. However, only 33.1% of the funding was obtained, and that forced relief organizations to reduce or close life-saving assistance programs.
On Thursday, the US Federal Reserve Board delegation confirmed its readiness to fully support the Central Bank of Yemen in executing financial operations related to foreign currency auctions. The state-run Saba News Agency reported that Ahmed Ghalib, the Governor of the Central Bank, met with the US Federal Reserve Board delegation in Morocco on the sidelines of the 2023 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The agency said the meeting reviewed ways to enhance the relationship between the two banks, including the banking services.
A Saudi newspaper has said achieving genuine peace in Yemen remains difficult. This comes amidst the continued talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group. Al-Saharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted Arab political researchers as saying that the recent Houthi military actions confirm reaching real peace is still hard to attain. The newspaper quoted Mohammed Fawzi, a researcher at the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, as saying that the Houthi escalation undermines any Houthi claims regarding peace. Fawzi said that if any military escalation occurs, the effectiveness of any discussions regarding resolving the crisis declines, and the Houthis gain time to reorganize their ranks. The Houthis launched a drone strike last month, killing 4 Bahraini soldiers on the Yemen-Saudi border.
The construction of NEOM, Saudi Arabia's future gigacity, is now well underway, with significant development achieved since the last progress film was shared with the world in January 2023. The second video, launched today (October 11, 2023), reveals rapid advancements in the destination's key regions, bolstered by large-scale investments and supported by market-leading partners and talent from more than 90 countries. The latest progress video shared by NEOM also captures plans for the $2 billion development of the gigacity's already-developing Port. The city will witness the launch of the largest public-private partnerships in social infrastructure on a global scale, with a $5.6 billion investment to create ten residential communities accommodating 95,000 people.
As fighting entered a sixth day, the death toll on both sides of the conflict between Israel and Hamas mounted. Israel said that 1,300 people were killed during rocket attacks and deadly raids into Israeli territory by fighters from Hamas, a U.S-designated terror group. More than 3,000 people have been wounded. Officials in Gaza said that retaliatory strikes by Israel on the Palestinian enclave had killed more than 1,417 people and wounded more than 6,250. The United Nations on Thursday said that 12 of its workers had been killed in the fighting in Gaza since Saturday.
