The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) explained, through a statement posted on its official website, that the financial pledges announced during the high-level virtual Pledging Event for Yemen 2020, amounted to one billion and 350 million US dollars. The Conference was virtually organized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in partnership with the United Nations in Riyadh on June 2, 2020. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia topped all as the largest pledge of US$500 million; followed by the United States of America with US$225 million; the United Kingdom with US$196 million; the Federal Republic of Germany with US$137 million and the European Commission with US$78 million. The remaining pledges came from the participating countries as follows: Japan US$41 million; Sweden US$30 million; Canada US$29 million, South Korea US$18 million; Netherlands US$17 million; Norway US$17 million; Switzerland US$12 million; France US$9 million; Italy US$5 million; Ireland US$5 million; Belgium US$5 million; Russia US$4 million; Denmark US$3 million; Finland US$3 million; Luxembourg US$2 million; Austria US$1 million; Czech Republic US$737,000; Iceland US$200,000; Lithuania US$110,000; Malaysia US$100,000; Slovenia US$93,000; Cyprus US$55,000; Bulgaria US$55,000; Malta US$33,000; Greece US$33,000 and Azerbaijan US$25,000. The conference aims to save the expenses of the relief operation and improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which is facing a humanitarian crisis, especially at the present time with the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). It is worth mentioning that the Pledging Event for Yemen 2020 was attended by more than 126 parties, including 66 countries, 15 international organizations, 3 inter-governmental organizations and 39 NGOs, in addition to the Islamic Development Bank, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
