Official statistics and reports of the United Nations on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen show that the eight-year war of the Saudi Arabia coalition against the Yemenis has caused the people of Yemen to experience one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world due to hunger and famine; leaving hundreds of children dying of starvation.
Nearly 8 years of conflict and severe economic recession have caused severe hunger and vital dangers in Yemen. The hunger crisis in Yemen can become even more intense and worse in the coming year because, under the impression of the war in Ukraine, the world is facing the worst hunger crisis in its modern history.
According to the World Food Program, by the end of 2022, about 60 million children under the age of five may suffer from acute malnutrition. The World Food Program also estimated that the number of people facing or at risk of acute food insecurity has increased from 135 million people in 53 countries before the Corona pandemic to 345 million people in 82 countries. This crisis is a combination of four deadly factors: “various wars, climate change, Covid-19, and the cost of a living crisis caused by the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine.”
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The United Nations also says that the countries of Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen have the highest number of people who are facing catastrophic levels of hunger and famine.
The World Food Program also reports that Yemen, with a 66% increase in the number of acutely hungry people in the last two years from 3.6 million to 6 million people, is the second hungry country in the world after Afghanistan. Among Yemeni citizens, children are the most affected by the food crisis, as they are at greater risk of malnutrition and subsequent death than others, while children who survive malnutrition suffer lifelong effects, including stunted growth. They will have physical and cognitive and mental development.
UN reports show: “More than 23.4 million people, including 12.9 million Yemeni children, that is, about three-quarters of the Yemeni population, need humanitarian assistance, and about 2.2 million children are severely malnourished.”
Yemen imports more than 90% of its basic needs, and this issue has caused this poor Arab country to pay the price of the war in Ukraine, which has increased the price of goods.
Also, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned in December 2022 about the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, especially among Yemeni children. Catherine Russell, the executive director of UNICEF, said after her visit to Yemen: “The people of Yemen are fighting to survive. Thousands of children have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands more are at risk of dying from preventable diseases or malnutrition.
UNICEF spoke about the suffering and problems of 540,000 children under the age of five due to severe malnutrition and the lack of safe water and health services for more than 17.8 million Yemenis, including 9.2 million children.
World health organization (WHO) also presented five reasons for the increase in the average severe malnutrition among Yemeni children, which are: “Reducing the ability of Yemenis to pay for food due to the increase in prices, difficulty in reaching basic health services, poverty, and unstable living conditions, “The lack of medical awareness in the community and the lack of sufficient humanitarian aid.” It is said that in the current situation in Yemen, children between 6 months and 23 months are most affected by severe malnutrition.
World health organization also announced that most centers have seen an alarming increase in the number of children suffering from malnutrition.
According to UN statistics, the number of child victims in the war in Yemen since 2015 has reached 11,000 people, of which 3,700 have lost their lives in this war. Although the ceasefire last year reduced the intensity of the conflicts, more than 330 children were killed and injured during the last year.
According to the UNICEF report, about 28% of children are not vaccinated and one million children cannot go to school, and this number may reach six million people because many schools are destroyed or unusable due to the bombings of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
