Saudi Arabia hosts a donors' conference to support Yemen on June 2
English - Tuesday 12 May 2020 الساعة 03:10 am
Aden, Newsyemen
Saudi Arabia will host a donors' conference to support Yemen in June, according to official media, at a time when the poor, conflict-torn country is facing the threat of an outbreak of the new Corona virus.
The official Saudi Press Agency stated that the conference will be held via the Internet in partnership with the United Nations, while the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula is also facing hunger and disease.
The kingdom, which considers itself one of the largest donors to Yemen since it led a military intervention in 2015 against the Houthi rebels allied with Iran, did not mention the expected amount of money raised from the event.
The Saudi Press Agency did not mention the purpose of the conference to raise funds, but the announcement comes at a time when international relief organizations are warning that the outbreak of the Corona virus may have severe consequences after six years of civil war in Yemen.
Last Tuesday, the Houthi rebels announced the first death of a newborn Corona in the capital, Sanaa, which has been under their control since September 2014, raising new fears of an outbreak of the disease in the country.
This brought the number of people who died of the virus in Yemen to 8, and the total number of confirmed cases to 35.
The health care system in Yemen is afflicted by years of conflict that has pushed millions to leave their homes and drowned the country in what the United Nations considers the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe.
The United Nations says about 24 million Yemenis, more than two-thirds of the population, are dependent on some form of international humanitarian assistance while nearly eight million are at risk of food shortages (starvation).
