Around $1.3 billion was needed for sustainable development DUBAI: The United Nations and its partners on Thursday launched an appeal for $4 billion in aid this year for Yemen, devastated by nearly a decade of war and conflict. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement that its 2024 humanitarian response plan “requires $2.7 billion for live-saving assistance and protection services.” A further $1.3 billion was needed for sustainable development, the statement said. The “urgent support” was needed for over 18.2 million civilians in Yemen, “who have faced tremendous suffering daily for more than nine years due to conflict, economic deterioration, severely disrupted public infrastructure and services, as well as climate change,” said UN humanitarian coordinator Peter Hawkins. “We must not turn our backs on the people of Yemen. I am appealing to donors for their continued and urgent support to save lives, build resilience, and also to fund sustainable interventions,” he said. The Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran Sanaa in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the government the following year. Hundreds of thousands of people have died directly from fighting or from indirect causes such as lack of food in what the UN has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. OCHA said that “17.6 million people are estimated to face acute food insecurity in 2024.” Yemen “is experiencing some of the highest malnutrition rates ever recorded... and the situation continues to worsen,” it said.