The UN blacklisting of a Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen over child casualties led to threats by a number of countries to cut off vital funding to many United Nations programs, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday.
Ban said his decision to temporarily remove the coalition from the UN list of violators of rights of children in armed conflict was "one of the most painful and difficult decisions I have had to make," and that the threats raised "the very real prospect that millions of other children would suffer grievously."