| The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
has warned that half a million children in Yemen could die or suffer
physical and mental damage as a result of malnutrition, unless
sufficient resources are made available to alleviate the effects of
conflict, chronic poverty and drought.
“Malnutrition is preventable… therefore, inaction is unconscionable,”
Maria Calivis, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North
Africa, said in a statement yesterday after a two-day visit to Yemen.
“Conflict, poverty and drought, compounded by the unrest of the previous year, the high food and fuel prices, and the breakdown of social services, are putting children’s health at great risks and threatening their very survival,” she said.
With 58 per cent of children stunted, Yemen has the second highest rate
of chronic malnutrition among children in the world after Afghanistan.
Acute malnutrition affects as many as 30 per cent of children in some
parts of the country, close to the levels observed in south Somalia, and
twice as high as the internationally recognized emergency threshold.
Malnutrition, along with poor health services, is also to blame for most
of the recent deaths of 74 children from measles, among 2,500 affected
by an outbreak of the disease, according to Government figures. While
most children recover from measles within two to three weeks, children
with malnutrition can suffer serious complications which can lead to
death.
UNICEF has appealed for nearly $50 million to fund programmes for children’s urgent humanitarian needs in Yemen this year.
The country also has one of the highest rates of death among children
under the age of five in the Middle East and North African region, at 77
per 1,000 live births, which means that some 69,000 children die every
year before their fifth birthday.
“Now more than ever is the time for a renewed commitment to a better,
peaceful future for Yemen’s children. As the country prepares for the
next phase, it is essential that children are given top priority in the
political agenda. Their needs need to be met and their rights upheld,”
said Ms. Calivis.
Warring factions in Yemen signed an agreement in November on a
transitional settlement under which President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed
to hand over power to Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi. A new
Government of National Unity was formed and presidential elections have
been scheduled for 21 February.
The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Yemen, Jamal Benomar, |