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European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
News article23 May 2023Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)

Yemen: international community assess the humanitarian situation

Two children in their family shelter at Rawdhan displacement site, in Marib Al-Wadi district, Yemen.
Two children in their family shelter at Rawdhan displacement site, in Marib Al-Wadi district, Yemen.
© Solidarités International/Abudllah Al Jaradi.

On 23 May, the European Commission and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden co-hosted the 5th Yemen Humanitarian Senior Officials’ Meeting. It brought together donors, UN agencies and NGOs to discuss the humanitarian situation in the country.

The meeting took place at a key moment where despite unprecedented signs of hope for a possible end to the conflict, Yemen remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The participants identified joint actions to improve humanitarian access, including for national female aid workers, the quality of aid delivery in Yemen, and to improve the coordination between development, resilience and humanitarian actors.

The meeting was opened by the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell.

Commissioner Lenarčič said: “I urge all parties to guarantee unrestricted humanitarian access. Continued restrictions and delays must be lifted immediately, especially, the harming restrictions on movements of female aid workers.”

The Senior Officials’ Meeting was preceded by preparatory consultations with local NGOs and front line humanitarian workers in Amman, Jordan on 7 and 8 May 2023.