OCHA spokesman says money needed to fight Yemen malnutrition, disease

GENEVA – SABA

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Geneva spokesman Jens Laerke said at a video press conference donations are needed to fight Yemen’s malnutrition, diseases, displacement, and weak health system.

In a video press conference Laerke also pointed to the new coronavirus problem, saying “the latest official numbers are 260 confirmed coronavirus cases and 54 deaths, but without adequate testing and analysis, the true picture is almost certainly much worse.”

A pledging conference co-hosted by the UN and Saudi Arabia is set to be held on June 2 to help the UN agencies raise funds for Yemen.

“If funded, more than 200 organisations — working in a coordinated fashion through a common strategy — will be able to continue to deliver the food, nutrition, health care, support to 3.6 million displaced people and other interventions which are critical for vulnerable communities across the country,” said Laerke.

“If not funded, the specter of famine will return, COVID-19 and other killer diseases such as cholera, dengue and malaria will ravage the country, and more people will die,” he warned.