The Irish deputy prime minister Tánaiste Simon and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D., and Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Mr. Ciarán Cannon, T.D., today announced additional Irish funding of €500,000 towards the humanitarian response in Yemen, now the world's largest crisis, with over 20 million people in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.

This new funding is in addition to €750,000 provided last month and brings Ireland’s total direct humanitarian support to the crisis in Yemen to over €5.3 million this year, and nearly €12.5 million since 2012. In addition, Ireland is the eighth largest donor to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, which has allocated USD $25.6 million to Yemen in 2017.

Ireland provides this support through the UN-managed Yemen Humanitarian Fund, an approach which allows for the most urgent needs to be met quickly, be they for food, shelter, health or protection for the most vulnerable.

Announcing the funding, the Tánaiste said:

“The scale and severity of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is overwhelming, and the suffering of the Yemeni people is increasing every day. A staggering 22.2 million people, or 76% of the population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, an increase of 1.5 million people since June 2017 alone. The UN has warned that Yemen is now the world’s largest man-made humanitarian crisis, with 17.8 million people food insecure and 8.4 million people at risk of starvation.

Basic public services are on the brink of collapse, and the cholera outbreak is of an unprecedented scale. Over 3 million people have fled from their homes, and more than 11 million people are in need of protection, facing serious risks to their safety, well-being and basic rights.

Following the launch of a missile from Yemen towards Riyadh on 4 November, the Saudi-led coalition imposed restrictions on humanitarian access in Yemen. Ireland unreservedly condemns missile attacks which endanger civilian lives, including the attack on 13 December. Ireland has also consistently highlighted, in bilateral contacts and at EU level, that humanitarian and commercial access to Yemen is necessary to avoid tragedy on an appalling scale. At the Foreign Affairs Council on 11 December, I myself urged stronger EU action in this area, and I am personally committed to following this issue closely.”

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