U.N. says disappointing $1.7 billion pledged for Yemen, impossible to avert famine

FILE PHOTO: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas after a meeting in Berlin, Germany, December 17, 2020. Michael Sohn/Pool via REUTERS

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a "disappointing" $1.7 billion had been pledged by countries on Monday for humanitarian aid in Yemen - less than half the $3.85 billion the world body was seeking for 2021 to avert a large-scale famine.

"For most people, life in Yemen is now unbearable. Childhood in Yemen is a special kind of hell. Yemeni children are starving," Guterres said as he opened the pledging conference. After it concluded, he described the outcome as "disappointing" and warned in a statement: "Cutting aid is a death sentence."