Millions of children at risk in Yemen, warns UNICEF
For lack of funding, Unicef risks no longer being able to meet the needs of millions of Yemeni children, who suffer from malnutrition.
According to the United Nations, more than 21.7 million people, or two-thirds of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance this year.
AFP
Millions of children face an increased risk of malnutrition in Yemen if funds are not urgently allocated to this war-torn country, where a child already dies every ten minutes, UNICEF warned on Friday. .
Among the 11 million children in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen, “more than 540,000 children under the age of five suffer from severe, life-threatening acute malnutrition,” the UN agency said in a statement. “And a child dies (on average) every ten minutes from preventable causes,” she added.
The organization said it “urgently needs $484 million” in 2023 to continue its intervention in this country, the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula, devastated by more than eight years of war. “Without urgent action, millions of children could face heightened risks of malnutrition,” she warned. “If the funds do not arrive, UNICEF could be forced to reduce its vital assistance to vulnerable children,” she insisted.
Hundreds of thousands dead
At the end of February, donor countries pledged 1.2 billion dollars for the population of Yemen, to the chagrin of humanitarian aid organizations which were demanding more than 4 billion. According to the United Nations, more than 21.7 million people, or two-thirds of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance this year.
The conflict in Yemen erupted in September 2014 when Houthi rebels, close to Iran, entered the capital Sanaa. They took power there in January 2015, provoking the intervention in March of the same year of a military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, to support the government forces. Since then, the war has left hundreds of thousands dead – direct or indirect victims of the conflict – and millions displaced. More than 11,000 children have been killed or maimed, according to Unicef.
The UN and aid organizations, which lack funding, regularly warn of large-scale famine in the country. A UN-brokered truce in April 2022 expired in early October without the parties to the conflict reaching an agreement to extend it. But the situation remained relatively calm on the ground.
AFP
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