UN says 2.4mn Yemeni children could starve by end of year amid pandemic and aid cuts

Millions of children in Yemen could be severely malnourished by the end of the year due to soaring poverty and a breakdown in public services, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and cuts in foreign aid, the UN children’s agency warned on Friday.

A new UNICEF report entitled “Yemen five years on: Children, conflict and Covid-19” said the number of starving Yemeni children could reach 2.4 million by the end of the year, 20 percent more than the current figure.

“If we do not receive urgent funding, children will be pushed to the brink of starvation and many will die,” AP quoted Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF’s representative to Yemen, as saying. “The international community will be sending a message that the lives of children… simply do not matter.”

The agency also warned that unless $54.5 million is provided for health and nutrition aid to Yemen by the end of August, more than 23,000 children will be at increased risk of dying from acute malnutrition.