Yemen Conflict: Country On Brink Of starvation

The conflict has also pitted Houthi rebels and allied military units against a range of local opponents, southern secessionists, Sunni Islamists and al-Qaeda militants.

She added that the warning signs of starvation “are in fact developing in front of our eyes,” and that “damage to Yemen’s next generation may become irreversible if we don’t reach children quickly with the right food at the right time.”

Bombing The UN’s under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O’Brien, who also toured Yemen, said the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing of Hodeida port, used by aid agencies to land supplies, was a violation of worldwide law.

The Saudis are leading a US-backed Arab coalition that is carrying out air strikes against Houthi fighters since March. Asked which parties were most responsible for delays, Cousin said: “There’s enough blame to go around”.

As devastating as the conflict is for the lives of children right now, it will have terrifying consequences for their future, it warns.

Anthony Lake, UNICEF’s executive director, released the figure in a statement, while expressing his concerns about the current humanitarian situation in Yemen, especially the challenges facing the children.

“These are all children that are under 5 years of age”, she said. “We must act now before it is too late”.

According to the WFP, more than 1.2 million children are suffering from moderately acute malnutrition, and over half a million are severely malnourished.

The organization has also stated that the 1.3 million people who have been internally displaced in Yemen have been hit hardest by the lack of food, with many surviving only on bread, rice, and tea.

Sources in Hodeida, meanwhile, said the port remained out of action Wednesday because of the damage to its cranes in the airstrikes.

Cousin called for immediate and regular access for WFP aid workers to areas of conflict.

Separately, the UN children’s fund said on Wednesday that an average of eight children were killed or maimed each day in the fighting.

The WFP estimates that almost 13 million people in Yemen lack proper access to food, with six million, or one in five of the country’s population, in urgent need of assistance.

Van der Klaauw put the overall casualty figures in the conflict at 4,500.

UNICEF has been at the centre of humanitarian operations in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict, working across the country to respond to the critical needs of children by providing life-saving services, including safe water, as well as treatment against malnutrition, diarrhoea, measles and pneumonia.

The rebels, who have controlled the capital Sana’a since September, have in recent weeks suffered a series of defeats at the hands of their Saudi-backed rivals in southern and central Yemen.