Yemen faces 'imminent danger' of world's worst famine, UN chief warns

Yemen, which is already battered by over five years of war, is also facing an imminent danger of world’s worst famine, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on November 20. Calling for urgent action in the region, the 71-year-old said that many lives could be in the absence of an immediate move.  Yemen, located at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, has been torn between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia in a war that has caused widespread poverty and hunger.

In a statement, Guterres stressed that the reasons for the heightened threat of famine include a drastic drop in funding for the UN-coordinated relief operation this year, decrease in external support for the country’s economy and the instability of the Yemeni currency Rial. In addendum, he also highlighted that the “impediments” for relief organisations imposed by the warring parties and natural occurrence of locust also played a significant part in heightening the threat.

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"I urge all those with influence to act urgently on these issues to stave off catastrophe, and I also request that everyone avoids taking any action that could make the already dire situation even worse," he  said. 

The warning from the UN Chief comes as the organisation reported that at least 98,000 children under five in southern Yemen could die from severe acute malnutrition. Years of war has not only led to perennial bloodshed but also made acute malnutrition,  widespread across Yemen. 

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The Yemeni civil war

The war in the Arab world’s poorest country erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led coalition, determined to restore President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi’s government, launched a military intervention months later. The fighting in Yemen has spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical shortages. According to AP, the deadly crisis has killed over 112,000 people till now. 

Read: Children In Yemen Suffer From Severe Malnutrition

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