UN agencies warn of ‘food emergency’ in Yemen
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Yemeni children are seen inside a tent at a makeshift camp housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the outskirts of the capital, Sana’a, April 16, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
Two agencies of the United Nations (UN) have warned of acute food shortages and a hunger crisis amounting to an “emergency” in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been waging a deadly war for some 15 months.
According to Press TV, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, in a report published on Tuesday, announced that food insecurity in Yemen has intensified significantly over the past year, and three million Yemeni children are currently at risk of malnutrition.
“At least seven million people — a quarter of the population — are living under emergency levels of food insecurity,” the UN agencies said in a statement.
“This reflects a 15-percent increase since June 2015. A further 7.1 million people are in a state of crisis,” they added.
Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said, “This clearly shows the huge magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.”
“This is one of the worst crises in the world and is continuing to get worse,” he said.
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