Twenty million Yemenis, two-thirds of the country’s population, need help, according to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, David Gressly.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Gressly said almost 400,000 children are facing starvation in war-torn Yemen.

An expansion of the conflict, described by Mr Gressly as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, has made the situation worse for countless Yemenis.

The country has been roiled by a devastating power struggle between a Saudi-backed government and the Iran-linked Houthi rebels since late 2014.

The conflict of more than six years has pushed the country, one of the poorest in the Arab world, to the brink of famine and caused huge damage to health facilities.

Mr Gressly said only about $2.1 billion of the approximately $3.8 billion calculated in March for humanitarian aid for the population had been received.

Serious efforts to find a political solution to the conflict are making progress, Mr Gressly said.

“But reconstruction could not wait until a ceasefire. The world must not allow a whole generation to grow up knowing nothing but conflict.

“People needed work. The fishing industry had to be revived, the ports and airports had to be opened,” Mr Gressly said.

“Civil servants must be paid enough so that they do not also fall into poverty. For this, too, the economy must be stimulated to find the resources to pay them,” he added.

(NAN)