Local Editor

The top United Nations [UN] humanitarian official said on Wednesday that, "There is no military solution to this conflict" in Yemen, which has been ongoing for over four months now.

Since March, a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out airstrikes against Yemen. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the United Nations [UN].

"What we need is peace," he said. "The dialogue of weapons needs to be replaced by the dialogue of words. There is no military solution to this conflict."

He further said that the indiscriminate violence had left him "utterly appalled" by the lack of protection of civilians. The fighting in Yemen has taken a heavy toll on civilians, more than 1,895 of whom have been killed since March.

Delivering his remarks to the press in Yemen’s port city of Aden at the conclusion of a special visit to the war-ravaged country, Stephen O’Brien, the UN Under-Secretary General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters on Wednesday that providing assistance to the millions in need was becoming increasingly difficult for aid workers due to intensifying violence and funding shortfalls.

"The scaling up of assistance and the full-fledged return of all our staff to Aden is made extremely difficult by the destruction and looting of the UN premises and assets," O’Brien said. "We cannot assist the people in Aden if we do not have offices, vehicles and the knowledge that our staff can work in safety and security."

He declared that the international community must step up its funding of relief efforts in Yemen and help in delivering critical aid to civilians amid the country’s conflict.

However, with only 18 per cent of the $1.6 billion humanitarian appeal for Yemen currently funded, the OCHA chief also warned that relief efforts were at risk of being "hampered" due to a sharp reduction in resources.

"Donors have not responded with the funding that is needed to cover the enormous humanitarian needs in the country," he continued. "Donors need to show their solidarity with the Yemeni people and provide us with timely funding to cover the enormous needs in the whole country..."

Concluding his mission, O’Brien said that he had a strong message for the international community, saying that, "I call on all parties to the conflict, and those who can influence them, especially in the region, to find a durable, political solution, for the sake of the Yemeni people. We must not fail them."

An estimated 21 million people, or 80 per cent of the population, currently require some form of live-saving assistance in Yemen.