- Title: UN humanitarian chief warns of 'real danger of famine' in Yemen
- Date: 2nd March 2017
- Summary: IBB, YEMEN (MARCH 1, 2017) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS (UN) HUMANITARIAN CHIEF STEPHEN O'BRIEN ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL, SHAKING HANDS WITH OFFICIALS SIGN OUTSIDE HOSPITAL READING, (Arabic): "SEVENTY HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN AND WOMEN" O'BRIEN WALKING WITH MEDICS INSIDE HOSPITAL HALLWAY O'BRIEN CHECKING ON BABY RECEIVING TREATMENT IN HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF BABIES RECEIVING TREATMENT IN
- Embargoed: 16th March 2017 19:02
- Keywords: Yemen Sanaa Ibb humanitarian crisis Emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien talks
- Location: IBB AND SANAA, YEMEN
- City: IBB AND SANAA, YEMEN
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001669QKP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING
A United Nations official visiting both sides in Yemen's civil war on Thursday (March 2) urged them to guarantee more access to the country's ports to allow food, fuel and medicine into the country to ward off a looming famine.
Emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien said the United Nations (UN) was urging international donors to step up their aid but the Yemenis had to ensure it could reach up to seven million people now facing severe food shortages.
"We can see about seven million Yemenis are not sure where their next meal will come from, and it's that which has caused us to declare that if we do not step up now and in an even greater way, there is a real danger of famine here in Yemen. And if the port of Hodeidah is unable to increase, worse still lose what it is already doing, but is not able to increase the amount coming in, then we will not have an ability to get sufficient supplies of food, medicines and of fuel into where we need to get it to reach the people who have needs," O'Brien said.
Yemen has been divided by nearly two years of civil war that pits the Iran-allied Houthi group against a Western-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
"Well it's not just the number of people who are food insecure, which represents about 14 million out of the 26 million or so Yemenis, which is an enormous number for any nation to have to bear. It's the fact that we have seen an increase in severe acute malnourishment particularly in young children and in lactating mothers. We have seen a very severe deterioration in the number of patients needing dialysis services, access to oxygen and where we need to see more antibiotics being brought in and medical facilities made available. These are seriously deteriorating," O'Brien added.
Nearly 3.3 million people in Yemen - including 2.1 million children - are acutely malnourished, the U.N. says. They include 460,000 children under age of five with the worst form of malnutrition, who risk dying of pneumonia or diarrhea.
Fighting in or near ports hampers access for aid coming from outside.
"The other big impression from this visit that I have noticed, is the very marked increase in the numbers of internally displaced persons, IDPs," O'Brien said.
Earlier this month, the U.N. said Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, which serves territory controlled by the Houthis, had hampered humanitarian operations to import vital food and fuel supplies.
Five cranes at the port have been destroyed, forcing dozens of ships to lie offshore because they cannot be unloaded.
"We need access, safe, unimpeded access, without security problems, without violence, where we have routes which are agreed and where we have a right to reach the people in need," he added.
O'Brien has also met with the Houthi movement in the capital Sanaa. On Tuesday (February 28), he was planning to visit the flashpoint city of Taiz but his convoy returned from its gates because of security concerns, a U.N. source told Reuters.
Robert Mardini, regional director at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), voiced concern at the fate of 500,000 people in the port city of Hodeidah as the conflict moves north up the Red Sea coast.
The "lifeline" of aid moving through Hodeidah and other ports is starting to be cut, Mardini told reporters in Geneva.
U.N. has appealed for US2.1 billion dollars to provide food and other life-saving aid, saying that Yemen's economy and institutions are collapsing and its infrastructure has been devastated.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said last week only US90 million dollars of funding has been received so far, out of US5.6 billion dollars needed this year for humanitarian operations in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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