UN warns of dire nutrition status for Yemeni children

United Nation: The United Nations on Tuesday warned of a dire nutrition situation for children in Yemen, calling for increased funding to scale up urg...

United Nation: The United Nations on Tuesday warned of a dire nutrition situation for children in Yemen, calling for increased funding to scale up urgent emergency food and nutrition support.

Half of the nation's children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition, and nearly half suffer from stunting, according to a briefing to the Security Council by Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the Coordination Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on behalf of UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher.

This means developmental delays and infections, and a risk of death from common illnesses nine to 12 times higher than average, said Rajasingham, adding that in a context where health care is desperately inadequate and where support services are unavailable to many, this is a life-or-death gamble for children.

"More than 17 million people are going hungry. This figure may crest 18 million by February next year. Women and children bear the brunt of this disaster," he said.

Yemen is now one of the most food-insecure countries in the world. As the economy continues to collapse and pressures on the food pipelines mount, many households with access to food can no longer afford it.