Yemen appeals for urgent global aid as hunger crisis deepens

Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad al-Alimi speaks to reporters during a briefing at the embassy of Yemen in Riyadh, on January 27, 2024. (File/AFP)
Short Url
Updated 13 August 2025
Follow

Yemen appeals for urgent global aid as hunger crisis deepens

  • Yemen’s UN envoy Abdullah Al-Saadi said the loss of oil revenues, which once made up 70 percent of public income, has crippled state services and worsened living conditions for millions

DUBAI: Following the UN warning that food insecurity in Yemen has reached “disastrous” levels, the country’s government told the Security Council it is on the brink of economic collapse and urgently needs international support to avert further humanitarian catastrophe.

Yemen’s UN envoy Abdullah Al-Saadi said the loss of oil revenues, which once made up 70 percent of public income, has crippled state services and worsened living conditions for millions already struggling with hunger and displacement, state news agency SABA reported on Tuesday. 

Nearly half of Yemen’s children under five suffer acute malnutrition, with many already dying in displacement camps, the UN said. The government warned that the economic crisis, compounded by conflict, climate shocks, and declining aid, is pushing more people toward famine and eroding any prospects for recovery.

Al-Saadi urged donor nations and organizations to step up funding ahead of a planned international food security conference in October, saying Yemen “stands on the threshold of a difficult phase” and cannot stabilize without sustained external assistance.


Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return

Updated 06 December 2025
Follow

Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return

  • Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch

NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.

Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence. 

The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”

The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress. 

Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”

“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.

Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders. 

Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.

Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.

“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.