UN Aid Chief Arrives In Capital Of Famine-threatened Yemen To Support Peace Efforts

The United Nations humanitarian chief on Thursday arrived in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, where four-year war has pushed millions of people to the verge of starvation.

SANAA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Nov, 2018 ) :The United Nations humanitarian chief on Thursday arrived in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, where four-year war has pushed millions of people to the verge of starvation.

"My visit comes to support the cease-fire in Yemen ... and to support peace efforts of the UN envoy," Mark Lowcock, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters upon his arrival.

During the three-day visit, Lowcock said he will see first-hand the world's worst humanitarian crisis and the response aid workers are implementing to ease people's suffering under extremely difficult conditions.

The UN official also said he will visit the government-controlled Aden.

The UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths visited Sanaa last week, when the rebels pledged to attend the upcoming peace talks in Sweden.

About 14 million Yemenis, half of the country's population, are facing pre-famine conditions, meaning they are entirely reliant on external aid for survival, Lowcock briefed the UN Security Council in October.

The military conflict in Yemen began with the takeover of Sanaa by the Houthi rebels in 2014, which forced the internationally recognized Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

A Saudi-led coalition, allied with the government of Hadi, has been fighting the Houthi militants since 2015.