UN: 15.3m Yemenis at risk of waterborne diseases

Some 15.3 million Yemenis are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) announced yesterday.

UNICEF called on the international community “to support in providing Yemenis with clean water.”

It pointed out that eight million of those affected were children, describing the situation as a “matter of life and death.”

“People in Yemen are in urgent need of support, especially those who live in refugee camps,” the UN agency stressed.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia stormed several northern cities and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. The war intensified the following year after a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in an effort to reverse Houthi gains. Hundreds of thousands have now been killed and over four million have been displaced in a conflict which has left millions on the brink of starvation, according to UN data.

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