UN raises $1.2 billion for Yemen, far below its 2023 target

By SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations has raised $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid pledges for Yemen at a conference aimed at helping millions of people in the war-stricken country. The amount is far below a target of $4.3 billion set by the U.N. to stave off one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. U.N. officials say more than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country’s population, need aid and protection. Yemen’s civil war started in 2014 when the Iran-backed rebel Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition intervened months later to dislodge the rebels and restore the internationally recognized government to power.