The United Nations has asked the international community for $2.96 billion to help the millions of people who urgently need humanitarian aid in Yemen.
"Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a donor conference in Geneva on April 3, calling the situation in the war-ravaged country "catastrophic."
Yemen has been locked in a devastating conflict between the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and Shi’ite Huthi rebels, who are supported by Iran.
More than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since the start of the coalition’s intervention in 2015, and 22.2 million people are in need of humanitarian help.
Saudi Arabia and its allies shut down the country's land, sea, and air borders last year and later eased the blockade, but restrictions on deliveries persist.
"Humanitarians must be able to reach the people who need help the most, without conditions," Guterres said. "All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food, and the fuel needed to deliver them."