The UN said Tuesday (February 26th) it had reached food aid warehouses on the frontlines in Yemen, holding enough supplies to feed millions of people, for the first time since September, AFP reported.
"I have just received a piece of good news. Finally, it was possible for us to reach the Red Sea Mills," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a pledging conference for Yemen in Geneva.
A spokesman for the UN's World Food Programme said it was an evaluation mission that had reached the warehouse near the western port city of al-Hodeidah.
"Today, for the first time since September, a World Food Programme team was able to reach the site of the Red Sea Mills, which holds 51,000 metric tonnes of grain, which is enough to feed more than 3.7 million people for a month," Herve Verhoosel said.
"We do not yet have the technical results from today's evaluation, but we hope to be able to begin using this site again as soon as possible," he added.
Guterres was Tuesday leading a pledging conference in Geneva aimed at raising $4.2 billion to help more than 21 million people in dire need of humanitarian aid.
In total, the UN estimates that more than 24 million people, or 80% of the population, needs assistance, including two million people who are affected by the humanitarian crisis in the past year alone.
"Two million girls, boys, women and men in need of lifesaving aid would be a significant emergency on its own," Guterres said, adding though that "In Yemen, it is a small fraction of an overwhelming humanitarian calamity".
According to the UN appeal published Tuesday, 14.3 million of Yemen's inhabitants are in acute need of assistance, and Guterres stressed the particularly heavy burden on children.
"Children did not start the war in Yemen, but they are paying the highest price," he said.
