$4 billion aid to fight humanitarian crisis in Yemen | WPN World People News

International donors, with Saudi Arabia in lead, have pledged more than $4 billion in aid to Yemen, the impoverished West Asian country battling terrorism and a possible humanitarian catastrophe due to food crisis.

Of the pledged funds, neighbouring Saudi Arabia will provide the bulk $3.25billion to help the Yemeni government improve security and infrastructure.

Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world and global aid agencies have warned that it is on the brink of food crisis.

The Friends of Yemen organized a meeting here Wednesday to help the Yemeni government raise funds to battle crisis.

At the international conference, Yemen is believed to have asked for some $10 billion in aid.

The country has been rocked by pro-democracy protests, communal unrest in the north and an Islamist conflict in the south.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the funds were aimed at achieving stability in Yemen. "I assert one more time our support to Yemen to back all the phases of the political initiative to help achieve security, stability and prosperity in facing the threats of extremism and terrorism," he told representatives from Western and Arab Gulf nations at the start of the gathering.

The BBC quoted a senior Saudi official as saying the money would support Yemen's currency, cover the deficit and strengthen the security forces.

The aid pledge comes a day after a group of seven charities said that 10 million Yemenis - 44 per cent of the population - were currently undernourished, with five million requiring emergency aid.

The charities said there is food available, but many Yemenis are unable to afford it. This is reflected in the doubling of malnutrition rates in the country since 2009, with prices of food and fuel surging steeply.

The announcement for the aid came on the day Yemeni troops were battling Islamist militants in two southern cities.

According to media reports, the troops recaptured parts of the strategically important city of Zinjibar and fought militants in the city of Jaar, leaving 33 militants and nine soldiers dead.

Reuters said the militants, who seized large swathes of southern Yemen last year, have given shelter and support to Al Qaeda's regional wing that killed nearly 100 soldiers in a suicide bombing at a military parade in the capital Sanaa on Monday.

Source: Middle East News.Net