The move brings Britain’s total commitment to the country to more than £770m since the conflict began in 2015 between Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen’s civil war.
The funds aim to help feed more than 1 million Yemenis each month, treat 30,000 children for malnutrition, and provide improved water supplies and basic sanitation.
In a statement on the fourth anniversary of the intervention by Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states – backed by the UK, US and France – the British government called on both sides to urgently implement agreements reached at peace talks in Stockholm.
“We have been clear that a political settlement is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis,” said foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and international development secretary Penny Mordaunt.
“Talks in Stockholm in December were a landmark point – the first time that the parties had come to the negotiating table in over two years.
“But there remains a serious risk that this window of opportunity to make progress towards lasting peace slips away.”
The ministers said the UK has been at the forefront of work towards finding a political solution to the conflict, leading on two United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
Hunt visited Yemen earlier this month – the first western foreign minister to do so since the conflict began – and Britain has also led efforts to bolster Yemen’s struggling economy by helping to stabilise the currency and ensuring the government pays public-sector salaries.
UK funds have also supported the work of the Yemeni Women Pact for Peace and Security to increase women’s leadership and inclusion in the official peace process.