UN Report: 7 Million In Yemen On Verge Of Starvation

August 5th, 2017

Awake Goy

Salem, 5, who suffers from malnutrition, lies on a bed at a hospital in the port city of Hodeidah, southwest of Sanaa, Yemen. Even before the war, Hodeidah was one of the poorest cities in Yemen, the Arab world’s most impoverished nation. Now, the destruction of the port city’s fishing boats and infrastructure by Saudi-led airstrikes means the U.N. estimates 100,000 children in the province are at risk of severe malnutrition. (AP Photo)

Salem, 5, who suffers from malnutrition, lies on a bed at a hospital in the port city of Hodeidah, southwest of Sanaa, Yemen. (AP Photo)

According to a report that was published on Thursday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), seven million people in Yemen are on the verge of starvation, while 2.3 million children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition.

One-third of the total population needs humanitarian aid and protection, according to the report, which pointed out that everything is urgently needed there, including shelter, food, water, health services, sanitation and safety.

The 407 displaced families gathered in a camp outside the town of Khamir in Amran governorate (north).

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The report pointed out that innocent civilians in Yemen were affected by a brutal conflict.

The report added that since the escalation of the conflict more than three million people have escaped from their houses looking for safety and security, while two million people are still internally displaced in the whole country.

The UN expressed its deep concern over the worst outbreak of the cholera epidemic in the world and pointed out that citizens are dying from treatable diseases as basic health services are no longer available.

Since the fall of 2014, Yemen has been witnessing a war between pro-government forces on the one hand and the armed combatants of the Houthi group as well as forces loyal to the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the other.

The war has led to difficult human and health conditions, in addition to a sharp deterioration of the economy of this poor country.

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