The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
The Covid-19 pandemic is severely exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, says OCHA
Yemen, a war-torn country, will be left to fight a Covid-19 pandemic with a collapsed health system without additional funding, warned today the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Epidemiologists estimate that the virus could spread faster, more widely and with deadlier consequences in some of the world’s most vulnerable populations than in many other countries.
Speaking to a virtual press conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Jens Larke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that“Yemen is really on the brink right now. The situation is extremely alarming, they are talking about that the health system has in effect collapsed. They are talking about having to turn people away because they do not have enough oxygen. They do not have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), that the numbers that are officially reported are important parts, as I said, we are working on the assumption that there is widespread communal transmission going on”.
With only half of Yemen’s health facilities fully functioning, funding for the country’s aid operation is crucial with up to USD 2 billion required until the end of the year. The UN and Saudi Arabia will co-host a virtual pledging event on 2 June to support fund raising.
“We are heading towards a fiscal cliff”, said OCHA’s spokesperson. “If we do not get the money coming in, the programs that are keeping people alive and are very much essential to fight back against Covid will have to close. And then, the world will have to witness what happens in a country without a functioning health system battling Covid 19 and I do not think that one will see that”.
More than 30 key UN programmes risk closing in the coming weeks due to a funding lack. Covid Rapid Response Teams are funded only for the next six weeks.
According to the World Healths Organisation’s latest figures, Yemen has 184 cases and 30 deaths.
However, “the actual incidence is almost certainly much higher”, stated Jens Laerke. “Tests remain in short supply, aid agencies in Yemen are operating on the basis that community transmission is taking place across the country, and only half of the health facilities are fully functioning. Yemen’s health system needs significant assistance to counter the threat of Covid-19. Humanitarian aid agencies are scaling up outreach, prevention and case management. “
Some 125 metric tons of supplies have arrived, while over 6,600 metric tons of tests, personal protective equipment and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) supplies are in the pipeline.
However, oxygen and personal protective equipment are more urgently needed. Preserving large-scale existing aid programmes in health, water and sanitation, nutrition and other sectors also offers an essential defense against infection for millions of people.
Yesterday, a UN flight arrived in Yemen’s capital Aden with more international staff on board.
Laerke said that “colleagues both in and out of the country are working together to deliver critical programs, this includes some international staff working remotely as well as international staff remain in Yemen and Yemeni national staff. Yemeni national staff remain the large majority of aid workers in Yemen”.
The war in Yemen has been ongoing since 2014 when Houthis took control of Yemen’s north and captured the capital Sanaa, forcing the UN-recognised government there to flee to Aden. Since 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab countries has been battling the Houthi rebels to reinstate the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and leaving millions suffering from food and medical shortages.
- Wide shot: exterior, UN Geneva flag alley.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Yemen is really on the brink right now. The situation is extremely alarming, they are talking about that the health system has in effect collapsed. They are talking about having to turn people away because they do not have enough oxygen. They do not have enough Personal Protective Equipment, that the numbers that are officially reported are important parts, as I said, we are working on the assumption that there is wide spread communal transmission going on”.
- Close up: Flag in front of UN Geneva building
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We are heading towards a fiscal cliff. If we do not get the money coming in, the programs that are keeping people alive and are very much essential to fight back against Covid will have to close. And then, the world will have to witness what happens in a country without a functioning health system battling Covid 19 and I do not think that one will see that”.
- Medium shot: UN Geneva flag alley
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The actual incidence is almost certainly much higher. Tests remain in short supply, aid agencies in Yemen are operating on the basis that community transmission is taking place across the country, and only half of the health facilities are fully functioning. Yemen’s health system needs significant assistance to counter the threat of Covid-19. Humanitarian aid agencies are scaling up outreach, prevention and case management. “
- Medium shot: UN Geneva Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Colleagues both in and out of the country are working together to deliver critical programs, this includes some international staff working remotely as well as international staff remain in Yemen and Yemeni national staff. Yemeni national staff remain the large majority of aid workers in Yemen”.
- Medium shot: UN flag in background ICRC building
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Navi Pillay Retires After Decades Defending Human Rights and Pursuing Justice
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.