The EU on Tuesday announced $125 million for NGOs and UN agencies helping people in Yemen, a day after aid groups appealed for billions to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the country.

The money is directed at the "most vulnerable in Yemen", the European Commission said after a Brussels meeting on Yemen bringing together donors, UN officials and non-governmental organizations.

On Monday, nearly 200 aid groups appealed for funds to bridge a $2.3 billion shortfall in assistance for Yemen, where more than half the 34 million population needs help after nine years of war.

The groups said in a joint statement that Yemen was facing a "critical moment" and inaction by the international community would have "catastrophic consequences".

Yemen has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Huthis overran the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering the Saudi-led military intervention in support of the government the following year.

Hundreds of thousands have died in the fighting or from indirect causes such as a lack of food, according to the United Nations.

Hostilities slowed considerably in April 2022, when a six-month UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect, and they have remained at a low level since.

Only $435 million of the $2.7 billion called for in Yemen's 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan requirement has been raised, the aid groups said, warning of threats including food insecurity, cholera, and unexploded ordnance.

Brussels stressed the EU contribution would be "channeled exclusively through the EU's humanitarian partners, including UN agencies and NGOs actively involved in the response".

The EU commissioner for crisis management, Janez  Lenarcic, who chaired Tuesday's aid meeting, said: "We must provide life-saving assistance to those in need and ensure more sustained support from the humanitarian and development communities."