UN official says one woman dies every two hours in Yemen

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Natalia Kanem, revealed that one woman dies every two hours in Yemen due to the deterioration of the health sector, noting that only 20 per cent of health facilities in the country are equipped to provide services to mothers and children.

Kanem referred to the UN’s efforts in Yemen to provide assistance in reproductive health, supporting more than half of the health centres which are operational with equipment and incentives for staff, allocate protection services in general, and supporting ten psychiatric, mental health centres and camps, in addition to other types of aid.

The UN official called on the parties to the conflict in Yemen to contribute actively to achieving peace and appealed to donors to double their funding for aid directed to Yemen.

Kanem said, during a press conference she held on Saturday in Aden, that she will observe directly the repercussions of the humanitarian situation, especially on women and girls, and the response that relief workers undertake to alleviate the suffering of people under extremely difficult circumstances, explaining that the tour will include several facilities in Aden.

READ: UN appeals for $3.85bn for humanitarian aid for Yemen

She reiterated the continued efforts of the United Nations and the UNFPA to provide assistance, especially to women and girls, amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis, combating gender-based violence, promoting adherence to ethical standards and assessing priorities in accordance with humanitarian suffering, while expressing concerns over lurking spectre of famine and malnutrition.

Health facilities in Yemen suffer from difficult conditions as a result of the bloody conflict that the country has been witnessing over the past seven-year war.