The Independent: 400,000 Yemeni children are at risk of starvation
English - Sunday 14 February 2021 الساعة 11:18 am
Aden, NewsYemen:
"Famine threatens hundreds of thousands" of children in Yemen, and when the Coronavirus epidemic turns into a disease that can be coexisted with, one of the most prominent topics covered by British newspapers.
The British newspaper The Independent said, in a report prepared by Bill Tru, Middle East correspondent, that "400 thousand children in Yemen are at risk of starvation."
The author says that the United Nations has warned that nearly half a million children under the age of five may starve to death in Yemen if they do not receive urgent aid, adding that 50 per cent of all children under the age of five in Yemen face the risk of acute malnutrition this year.
She adds that the United Nations agencies concerned with children, food, health and agriculture said in a joint statement that in 2021, 2.3 million children under the age of five will suffer from hunger or the risk of famine this year, which represents an increase of 16 percent from 2020.
She added that among this number, 400,000 children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition, which means that they may die if not treated urgently, an increase of 22 per cent over the numbers in 2020.
The author believes that a catastrophic combination of conflict, the Coronavirus pandemic and climate change has devastated war-torn Yemen, where 80 percent of the population of nearly 30 million people now depend on aid to survive.
It adds that peace talks between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have stalled as the conflict in Yemen enters its seventh year.
United Nations agencies have warned that 2021 will witness the highest level of acute malnutrition recorded in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict, and highlighted war-torn provinces such as Hodeidah, Aden and Taiz as among the worst affected.
The author says that the United Nations also indicates that mothers are affected by the crisis as well, as about 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women in Yemen are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.
The author adds that despite the severity of the crisis, the United Nations said that the humanitarian response to Yemen remains "seriously underfunded."
