UN, Saudi Arabia To Host Pledging Event June 2 To Support Yemen Amid COVID-19 - Spokesman

Sumaira FH Published May 23, 2020 | 01:59 AM

The United Nations and Saudi Arabia will hold a pledging conference on June 2 to mobilize support toward Yemen's response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Friday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2020) The United Nations and Saudi Arabia will hold a pledging conference on June 2 to mobilize support toward Yemen's response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Friday.

"We are obviously very concerned at the rapid spread of the virus across the country," Dujarric said. "There will be a pledging conference on the second of June; we very much hope donors will come prepared to pledge generously."

Dujarric said that the current level of funding for humanitarian programs might force them to start shutting down in the next few weeks in Yemen. The country also experiences severe shortages of testing to diagnose COVID-19.

While Yemen's health care system, impacted by the protracted armed conflict, is going through collapse, the United Nations suspects that COVID-19 is widely spreading throughout local communities, Dujarric added.

"We keep talking that we are shocked and outraged in this context, but it is obviously shocking that in this particular environment, we have not yet been able to secure adequate funding for the COVID-19 response," he stressed.

Dujarric also said that in the meantime, it is critical for the authorities across Yemen to do the utmost to suppress the transmission of the virus and ensure that reporting of cases is done with high level of transparency.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen has so far reached 197 with 33 deaths. The United Nations, however, previously voiced its concern that the actual number of infections might be underreported.