In Yemen, internally displaced children stand outside their family tent after the family fled their home in Saada province and found refuge in Darwin camp, PhotO: UNHCR/Yahya Arhab
Children in the impoverished Yemeni nation are going through terrible times with one child dying every 10 minutes from diseases while Saudi-Houthi conflict casts a shadow on the future of a whole generation.
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, says nearly 2.2 million children in Yemen are acutely malnourished and require urgent care.
At least 462,000 children suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), a drastic increase of almost 200 per cent since 2014. An additional 1.7 million children suffer from Moderate Acute Malnutrition, a report by the agency said this week.
The report comes as international criticism of Saudi-led and US-supported war in one of the poorest nations lingers on with no immediate end in sight. Like the Syrian conflict, the Yemeni war also has involvement of regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Washington and Riyadh believe the Houthis are backed by Iran in the country bordering Saudi Arabia. However, the plight of people in Yemen has received a lot less attention due to massive humanitarian disaster, widespread killings and destruction, ISIS terror challenge as well as refugee crisis spreading out of the Syrian conflict.
In its report, the UN says predicament of severely malnourished children in Yemeni governorates such as Hodeida, Sa’ada, Taizz, Hajjah and Lahej is most critical. These five governorates put together have the highest of all SAM cases in the country. Sa’ada also has the world’s highest stunting rates amongst children with an unprecedented eight out of 10 children in some areas being chronically malnourished.
“Malnutrition in Yemen is at an all-time high and increasing,” said Dr Meritxell Relano, UNICEF Acting Representative in Yemen. “The state of health of children in the Middle East’s poorest country has never been as catastrophic as it is today.”
The country faced dire ecocnomic prospects for its people even before the escalation of the conflict in March 2015 with challenges from widespread poverty, food insecurity and a dearth of health services. Now Yemen’s health system is on the verge of collapse.
According to the UN, less than a third of the country’s population has access to medical care. Less than half of health facilities are functional. Health workers have not been paid their wages for months and aid agencies are struggling to bring in lifesaving supplies because of the political deadlock between the warring parties.
“At least one child dies every ten minutes in Yemen because of preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, malnutrition and respiratory tract infections,” the UN body reported.
“Violence and conflict have reversed significant gains made in the last decade in the health and nutrition of Yemeni children. Diseases such as cholera and measles have spread and, with few health facilities functional, such outbreaks are taking a heavy toll on children,” said Relano.
In 2016, UNICEF has supported the treatment of 215,000 children suffering from SAM across Yemen and provided more than 4 million children under the age of five with vitamin supplements to boost their immunity.
But, the report warns, lifesaving work remains hindered by the shortage of funding and limited access to areas caught in the fighting.
“We call on parties to the conflict to give us unhindered access to children in need across the country so we are able to deliver nutrition supplies, treat malnourished children and support Yemen’s health services,” said Relano.
The world body says funding continues to be a challenge. In 2017, UNICEF needs US$70 million to provide the much needed nutrition services to mothers and children across the country
