The European Commission is increasing its emergency assistance by €15 million, to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
This funding will provide life-saving assistance to people in need, and brings the total amount of the Commission's support to the crisis to €52 million for 2015.
EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, said: "The humanitarian catastrophe taking place in Yemen must remain at the forefront of our priorities. The ongoing conflict has caused a large number of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure including medical facilities. We are stepping up our support to help humanitarian agencies in the country provide life-saving assistance such as health care, water and sanitation, nutrition and food security."
Humanitarian organisations estimate that 21.2 million people (82% of the total population) are in need of humanitarian assistance, 14.4 million people are suffering from food insecurity, 14.1 million are in need of health care and 19.3 million lack access to water and sanitation.
Background
The humanitarian situation in Yemen has continued to worsen as a result of the conflict which started nine months ago, with large-scale internal displacement taking place throughout the country. The crisis in Yemen has been classified by the UN as a Level 3 emergency – for the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises.