UN, World Bank distribute second Yemen cash instalment to avert famine

The UN agency for children said Monday it distributed cash to 1.5 million families to avert the risk of famine in Yemen, a country where six in 10 people don't know where their next meal will come from.

The emergency payout, part of a $200 million World Bank-funded programme, comes in the fourth year of a civil war that has led to what the UN calls the "world's worst humanitarian crisis".

More than 10,000 people have died since the Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes in March 2015. There are also up to one million suspected cholera cases in the country of 23 million. 

The money - an average of $30 per family - reached an estimated 9 million people and allowed families to buy food and other basic necessities. It's the second of three planned payments, with the next round set for August, according to UNICEF's regional director Geert Cappelaere. 

"A small amount of cash for the most vulnerable, for the poorest of the poor makes a world of difference," he said. He urged the international community to put a stop to the fighting in the Arab world's poorest nation.

The UN made a record appeal for aid to Yemen in January, asking for $3 billion to cover humanitarian assistance. The previous year, international donors provided $1.65 billion of the $2.34 requested by the UN. 

The war has pitted a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north. 

Over the last four days, more than 150 have been killed in in the country's coastal Red Sea port of Hodeida. The port is a vital pipeline for foodstuffs and other imports, but the coalition says it is used to receive weapons and munitions from Tehran - a charge both Iran and the Houthis deny.

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