In Yemen, millions of children are on the brink of starvation, according to UNICEF

The number of malnourished children in Yemen could reach $ 2.4 million by the end of the year, an increase of 20 %.

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June 25, 2020 23h25

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In Yemen, millions of children are on the brink of starvation, according to UNICEF

AFP

Agence France-Presse

DUBAI — The number of malnourished children in Yemen could reach $ 2.4 million by the end of the year, an increase of 20 %.

Triggered there are more than five years, the conflict between the authority, supported by saudi Arabia, to the rebels, Houthis, supported by Iran. For the UN, the humanitarian crisis in this impoverished country on the arabian peninsula, is the worst in the world.

“Millions of children in Yemen are likely to find themselves on the brink of starvation because of the huge lack of funding for humanitarian aid in full pandemic,” said the Fund of the united nations children’s fund (UNICEF) said in a report.

The number of malnourished children could reach 2.4 million by the end of the year, an increase of 20 %. At the same time, the mortality rate among children under five years of age for “preventable causes” could also increase.

In the absence of an emergency response, “the international community will send a message signifying that the life of children in a nation devastated by conflict, disease and economic collapse, is simply not of importance,” regretted Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF representative in Yemen.

The organization has claimed support of 461 million US dollars for its humanitarian work in Yemen and $ 53 million, an additional US to fight against the COVID-19 in this country.

Despite the urgency, only 39 % of the first amount and 10 % of the second have been harvested to date, according to UNICEF, which pushes the alarm bell on the reduction of its programmes on the ground.

Moreover, three million children and their families may not have access to water in Yemen, a country with the infrastructure and the health system, already devastated by the conflict, according to UNICEF.

Earlier in June, the united nations has not been able to raise that 1.35 billion US humanitarian aid to Yemen during a donor conference on virtual, distance of 2,41 billion US expected.

The war in Yemen has left tens of thousands dead, most of them civilians, according to humanitarian organizations. More than three million civilians are living in camps for the displaced.

Le Soleil