Aid shipments land in Yemen amid UN funding cuts

The last of three large shipments of medical supplies landed in Yemen on Friday, organisers of the cargo flights said, following an initiative to boost the war-devastated country's health care system as it battles the coronavirus.

The shipments represent a different path to humanitarian relief in Yemen as the U.N. faces a drastic shortage of funds for its operations, even with the virus surging across the Arab world's poorest country.

The Hayel Saeed Anam Foundation, the charity arm of the Yemeni-owned conglomerate by the same name which produces cooking oil and other foodstuffs, helped create the International Initiative on COVID-19 in Yemen.

The partnership brings together U.N. agencies with a host of companies.

It's an unusual effort to bring crisis-stricken Yemen back from the brink of further disaster, as the virus overwhelms Yemen's hospitals.

The number of people dying from COVID-19 has dramatically spiked nationwide.

Testing remains limited, with the country conducting just 31 tests per 1 million people, among the world's lowest scores, according to the International Rescue Committee.

Friday's air delivery is expected to increase Yemen's ability to perform coronavirus tests by some 50,000 people per week.

But organizers say the delivery is a small but urgently needed step for a health system in disarray.

Friday's batch followed two earlier shipments from the joint initiative, on Wednesday and Thursday, that each had more than 14 tons of items, including ventilators, coronavirus test kits and personal protective equipment.