75% of Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition: WHO

Seventy-five per cent of Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today.

In a Twitter post, the UN body added that 16.2 million – more than half of the country’s population of 30 million – are food insecure.

Nearly 16.2 M Yemenis are food insecure, & 3 of 4 👶 are chronically malnourished. In partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation & Ministry of Public Health, WHO has sustained nutrition care for more than one year that has saved the lives of 9,384👶.#Yemen pic.twitter.com/uMU7P1scnh

— WHO Yemen (@WHOYemen) November 15, 2021

Last month, the UN Security Council expressed “grave concern for the dire humanitarian situation [in Yemen], including prolonged starvation and the growing risk of large-scale famine, which is compounded by the dire economic situation.”

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthis captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises with 233,000 people dead, nearly 80 per cent or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

Conflict has escalated in recent months in various parts of the Arab country, including the central city of Marib where Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks to take control of the oil-rich province, which is also one of the most important strongholds of the legitimate government and home to the headquarters of Yemen’s Defence Ministry.

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