Funding gaps jeopardize aid in Yemen as COVID-19 spreads: UN

United Nations aid agencies voiced alarm Friday at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen as COVID-19 spreads and a lack of funding jeopardizes life-saving programs.

"More than 30 of the 41 UN-supported programmes in Yemen will close in the coming weeks if additional funds are not secured," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a UN briefing in Geneva.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that of the $1.35 billion pledged for Yemen in early June - $1 billion short of the target - only 47% of promised funds have been received.

"Unless UNICEF receives $30 million by the end of June, water, sanitation and hygiene services will start shutting down for 4 million people in July," Marixie Mercado of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. Only 10% of $53 million it seeks for COVID operations has been received, reducing its ability to provide protective equipment and medical supplies, she added.