Violence in Yemen deepens concerns over the child hunger crisis

Key points

• More than one in four children examined was acutely malnourished
• About 200 children examined experienced severe acute malnutrition
• At least 15 children have been killed since September 3

Of the nearly 2,900 children examined in areas where there is safe humanitarian access, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more than one in four people suffer from acute malnutrition, while around 200 people suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

“This is just a glimpse of how bad the situation is in Yemen; every day we see more and more cases,said Akhil Iyer, the agency’s top official in the country.

Testimonies from around 130,000 people who fled clashes in the southwest illustrate how civilians have been hit hard by fighting in recent weeks, after years of food and nutrition crises.

“We spoke with Haifa, a young mother who also left the west coast of Yemen, and he told us that gunshots were approaching his house, because the house was shaking. He told us that he had no time to think, he just knew that he had to run and run fast with his family,” said the UNICEF official.

Currently, Haifa and her family “live in very hot weather [one] on the tent side,” in the AlFirdos refugee camp near Aden. They have no way to earn money and they struggle to get food and medicine, explained Mr. Iyer.

“He showed us that displacement has stripped them of their dignity. This is exactly what displacement does.”

Most vulnerable with highest risk

Briefing journalists from Aden, Iyer also described the plight of four-year-old Taha, who he found receiving treatment at a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic.

“His family had just fled violence in Mokha district, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) away, leaving behind their home and belongings. His mother told us, ‘We fled with nothing. My only fear was that I would lose my son before I got help.’ Unfortunately, Taha’s story is not unique.”

Over the past three weeks, nearly 130,000 people in Yemen were forced to flee their homes. That number includes about 71,000 children. The majority of them have been displaced in the southwestern region of Taiz province where they have been unable to move to safer areas “due to fighting, road closures or lack of transport”, Iyer continued.

Since September 3, UNICEF has verified that at least 15 children were killed and 14 others injured, mainly as a result of shooting attacks. Three more children are still missing. “Behind every child is a parent who has experienced unimaginable things – sadness, fear, or suffering because of the unknown,” stressed Iyer.

Before the latest escalation in conflict, more than 2.2 million children under five in Yemen were estimated to be acutely malnourished this year, and more than half a million children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Danger access

Providing health services to those exhausted by repeated displacement is critical, especially amid the spread of preventable diseases, including measles, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and cholera. But reaching communities with the highest health needs is becoming “increasingly difficult”, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In 90 of the 105 priority health cluster districts in northern Yemen, “UN operations have been suspended”, explained the agency’s Amna Smailbegović. “This disruption has a direct impact on essential services, including outpatient consultations, skilled births, and child health services.”

UNICEF and other aid agencies lack safe and unhindered humanitarian access to 65-70 percent of children because the areas where they live are controlled by Houthi opposition forces.