UNICEF: Millions of Yemenis face famine

Geneva ,(ST)- Yemen is “on the edge of a precipice” after years of civil war, a senior U.N. official has warned on Monday. Millions of children are suffering from malnutrition and facing the risk of famine.

Ted Chaiban sounded the alarm about the worsening humanitarian situation as the United Nations Children’s Fund launched an appeal for a record $2.5 billion in emergency funds from global donors.

As UNICEF’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, Chaiban oversees an effort to assist children and families in a region hit hard by conflict, natural disaster and the coronavirus crisis. With some 39 million children in need of assistance, the Middle East alone accounts for 40% of the agency’s $6 billion global appeal.

“The largest humanitarian emergencies in the world are in this region,” Chaiban said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Yemen is suffering the worst humanitarian crisis in the world as a result of the continued aggression of the Saudi regime since March 2015. Saudi has used various types of weapons, which led to the death and injury of thousands of civilians and caused massive damage to the infrastructure and economic collapse, as well as to the spread of intractable diseases and famine in various parts of the country as a result of the siege to Yemeni ports and the prevention the entry of medicine and humanitarian aid.

Haifaa Mafalani