The United Nations warns of a severe food crisis in Yemen
English - Wednesday 28 October 2020 الساعة 10:55 am
Aden, NewsYemen:
The United Nations warns of a severe food crisis in Yemen
United Nations organizations have warned that one child in five under the age of five in different parts of Yemen suffers from severe malnutrition and is in urgent need of treatment with the high incidence of malnutrition in particular in the south of the country.
According to an analysis of acute malnutrition in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification released Tuesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program, and their partners, cases of acute malnutrition among children increased by 10% during 2020 to more than half a million. south of Yemen.
The largest increase in cases of young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition was by 15.5% during the year 2020. The analysis included 133 southern Yemen districts, in which 1.4 million children under the age of five live.
In a statement, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, said that the organizations had been warning since July that Yemen was on the verge of a catastrophic food security crisis. She added, "If the war does not end now, we are approaching an irreversible situation and risk losing an entire generation of Yemen's young children. The data we are releasing on Tuesday confirm that acute malnutrition among children has reached the highest levels we have been witnessing since the war began."
In addition, at least a quarter of a million pregnant and breastfeeding women need treatment for malnutrition, while UN experts warn that the actual number is likely to be higher as the causes of malnutrition in Yemen worsen in 2020.
The lives of thousands of children and women are at stake, said Philip Domill, UNICEF Representative in Yemen. "Acute malnutrition can be treated and prevented through a range of basic services, but for that, we need urgent action and support. There should be a great sense of urgency to make the necessary financial resources available and ensure access to the children and women who are most in need of help," he added. .
Recently, many relief projects, including emergency food aid, water, sanitation and hygiene services, have been disrupted due to lack of funding. Malnutrition treatment programs are also at risk if additional funds are not received.
In addition to malnutrition in Yemen, there is a poor and insufficient diet, the high prevalence of infectious diseases, levels of food insecurity, limited access to nutrition and health services, poor sanitation and hygiene services, and the inability of many children to receive important vaccines such as measles and polio
