Yemen appeals for urgent global aid as hunger crisis deepens

Yemen appeals for urgent global aid as hunger crisis deepens
Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad al-Alimi speaks to reporters during a briefing at the embassy of Yemen in Riyadh, on January 27, 2024. (File/AFP)
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Updated 13 August 2025

Yemen appeals for urgent global aid as hunger crisis deepens

Yemen appeals for urgent global aid as hunger crisis deepens
  • Yemen’s UN envoy Abdullah Al-Saadi said the loss of oil revenues, which once made up 70 percent of public income, has crippled state services and worsened living conditions for millions

DUBAI: Following the UN warning that food insecurity in Yemen has reached “disastrous” levels, the country’s government told the Security Council it is on the brink of economic collapse and urgently needs international support to avert further humanitarian catastrophe.

Yemen’s UN envoy Abdullah Al-Saadi said the loss of oil revenues, which once made up 70 percent of public income, has crippled state services and worsened living conditions for millions already struggling with hunger and displacement, state news agency SABA reported on Tuesday. 

Nearly half of Yemen’s children under five suffer acute malnutrition, with many already dying in displacement camps, the UN said. The government warned that the economic crisis, compounded by conflict, climate shocks, and declining aid, is pushing more people toward famine and eroding any prospects for recovery.

Al-Saadi urged donor nations and organizations to step up funding ahead of a planned international food security conference in October, saying Yemen “stands on the threshold of a difficult phase” and cannot stabilize without sustained external assistance.


Trump to meet Syrian president at White House on Nov. 10

Trump to meet Syrian president at White House on Nov. 10
Updated 8 sec ago

Trump to meet Syrian president at White House on Nov. 10

Trump to meet Syrian president at White House on Nov. 10
  • Press secretary Karoline Leavitt says there has been 'good progress' in Syria since Trump lifted sanctions
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump plans to meet with Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday at a press briefing.
Since seizing power from Bashar Assad last December, Al-Sharaa has made a series of foreign trips as his transitional government seeks to re-establish Syria’s ties with world powers that had shunned Damascus during Assad’s rule.
Trump has sought good relations with Al-Sharaa. In June he revoked most US sanctions against Syria, and Trump met with the Syrian leader when he visited last May.
“When the president was in the Middle East, he made the historic decision to lift sanctions on Syria to give them a real chance at peace and I think the administration, we’ve seen good progress on that front under their new leadership,” she said.