Acute malnutrition threatens half of children under five in Yemen in 2021: UN

Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, four United Nations agencies warned on Friday. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment.

The new figures, from the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Malnutrition report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, mark an increase in acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition of 16 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, among children under five years from 2020. 

The agencies also warned that these were among the highest levels of severe acute malnutrition recorded in Yemen since the escalation of conflict in 2015.

Malnutrition damages a child’s physical and cognitive development, especially during the first two years of a child’s life. It is largely irreversible, perpetuating illness, poverty and inequality.

Preventing malnutrition and addressing its devastating impact starts with good maternal health, yet around 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women in Yemen are projected to be acutely malnourished in 2021.

Years of armed conflict and economic decline, the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe funding shortfall for the humanitarian response are pushing exhausted communities to the brink, with rising levels of food insecurity. Many families are having to resort to reducing the quantity or quality of the food they eat, and in some cases, families are forced to do both.

“The increasing number of children going hungry in Yemen should shock us all into action,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “More children will die with every day that passes without action. Humanitarian organizations need urgent predictable resources and unhindered access to communities on the ground to be able to save lives.”

Fighting in Yemen has lead to death, destruction and diseases

“Families in Yemen have been in the grip of conflict for too long, and more recent threats such as COVID-19 have only been adding to their relentless plight,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Without security and stability across the country, and improved access to farmers so that they are provided with the means to resume growing enough and nutritious food, Yemen’s children and their families will continue to slip deeper into hunger and malnutrition.”

“These numbers are yet another cry for help from Yemen where each malnourished child also means a family struggling to survive” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “The crisis in Yemen is a toxic mix of conflict, economic collapse and a severe shortage of funding to provide the life-saving help that’s desperately needed. But there is a solution to hunger, and that’s food and an end to the violence. If we act now, then there is still time to end the suffering of Yemen’s children.”

US decision will provide ‘profound relief’ to millions in war-torn Yemen: UN spokesperson

OCHA/Mahmoud Fadel
An internally displaced child plays at an IDP settlement in Al-Dhale’e governorate, southern Yemen.

The US announcement revoking the previous administration’s terrorist designation of Yemen’s Houthi movement, formally known as Ansar Allah, will provide “profound relief” to millions in the country, who depend on international assistance and imports for their survival, the UN Spokesperson said on Saturday. 

In a note to correspondents, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, welcomed the announcement, which was made by the Biden administration on Friday. 

“The revocation of the designations will provide profound relief to millions of Yemenis who rely on humanitarian assistance and commercial imports to meet their basic survival needs. It will help ensure that much-needed essential goods reach them without significant delays”, Mr. Dujarric said. 

“At a time when Yemen is at significant risk of famine, maintaining commercial imports and humanitarian assistance in adequate quantities is essential”, he added. 

Mr. Dujarric also expressed hope that the move will contribute to UN efforts to resume a Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political process to reach an inclusive, negotiated settlement to the conflict. 

‘We cannot lose momentum’ on the road to peace in Yemen, UN envoy warns

UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Martin Griffiths (on screen), Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, briefs the Security Council on the situation in Yemen. 9 January 2019.

“The difficult part” of reaching a lasting political settlement in Yemen “is still ahead of us” said the UN Special Envoy on Wednesday, urging the Security Council to support the “speedy implementation” of the fragile ceasefire agreed in and around the crucial port city of Hudaydah, at breakthrough talks in Sweden last month.

Martin Griffiths told Council members he was “under no illusion that these are very sensitive and challenging days” for both the Government coalition, and opposition Houthi leaders, “and for Yemen as a whole.”

Mr. Griffiths updated the Council that since the consultations in Stockholm, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Abdelmalik Al-Houthi, leader of Houthi opposition movement Ansar Allah, have recognized the meetings “as an important step towards a comprehensive resolution to the conflict” and were determined to build on that progress through more dialogue.

Noting that the 18 December ceasefire in and around Hudaydah had been largely adhered to, Mr. Griffiths said the fighting was now “very limited” compared to the clashes beforehand, which threatened the lives of hundreds-of-thousands of civilians living inside the Houthi-held port and city.

“This relative calm, I believe, indicates the tangible benefit of the Stockholm Agreement for the Yemeni people and the continued commitment of the parties to making the agreement work,” he asserted.

The special envoy credited the Council’s “swift authorization” of December’s  resolution 2451, and rapid deployment of ceasefire monitors as “a clear signal to the parties and the Yemeni people of the international community’s desire to turn the agreement into facts on the ground” and hoped that security arrangements and the humanitarian access routes agreed in Stockholm will be implemented swiftly.

Turning to the major city Taiz where the two sides have battled for control for more than three years, the UN envoy recalled its “enormous historic significance” and called its people a driving economic and cultural force.

“Civilians in Taiz have suffered far too much for too long, and the destruction in the city has been terrible”, he underscored. “The flow of humanitarian aid needs to increase, and people need the chance to rebuild”, he added, pointing out that the Stockholm consultations provided a platform for this.

On the prisoner exchange agreement, Mr. Griffiths said that although implementation has been “gradual and tentative”, the UN was working with both parties to finalize the lists each submitted in Stockholm and would follow up with talks on 14 January in Amman, Jordan.

“I hope these talks will allow many thousands of prisoners to go home and be reunited with their families”, he said, asking for the Council’s support in encouraging the parties to “overcome any challenges that may be encountered along the way.”

Mr. Griffiths lamented that no consensus was reached on the Central Bank of Yemen or opening the Sana’a airport, which would significantly contribute to the economy and help relieve humanitarian suffering.

“I continue to work with the parties to resolve them,” he maintained, urging both sides to “exert restraint in their media rhetoric”.

With the goal of reaching a lasting political settlement, Mr. Griffiths said “Sweden was just a start” and that it was important to keep up the momentum in moving the process forward.

Calling speedy implementation “crucial”, he stressed that a lot of work needs to be done “before the parties can reach a comprehensive peace agreement”.

The UN envoy spelled out: “We need to convene the next round, but we need substantive progress on what was agreed in Stockholm”.

“Progress in Sweden is a basis for confidence. It would be conducive to further progress at the next round of consultations”, he concluded.

IOM Facilitates Return of 418 Migrants Stranded in Yemen in First Evacuation Flight in More than Three Years

The UN Migration Agency (IOM) this week (26-29 November) began assisting 418 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen to safely return under IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) operation.

IOM welcomed 102 Ethiopian returnees to the Addis Ababa International Airport yesterday, the first of a four-day Voluntary Humanitarian Return operation from Yemen. Photo: IOM/Eman Awami 

This is IOM’s first airlift since shortly after the conflict broke out in 2015 and the largest VHR operation carried out by IOM in Yemen to date.

On Monday (26 November), 102 Ethiopian migrants travelled from Sana’a International Airport to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. In three subsequent flights scheduled through Thursday, another 316 migrants will follow. More than a quarter of the passengers – 121 of the returning 418 migrants – are minors.

IOM has been assisting many of the migrants returning this week for at least six months. Already in 2018, IOM’s VHR programme has assisted 668 migrants to return to Ethiopia on ships carrying migrants across the Gulf of Aden. Unstable weather conditions at sea combined with escalated fighting in and around Al Hudaydah ports posed major operational challenges in previous return operations.

“The first airlift return operation increases IOM’s ability to ensure that migrants who wish to leave Yemen can do so in a safe and dignified manner,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM’s Director of Operations and Emergencies, who added: “The airlift, made possible through close cooperation with authorities in Yemen and Ethiopia, opens the way for improved humanitarian assistance for migrants in Yemen.”

The ongoing conflict – now well into its fourth year – has not stemmed the flow of migrants to Yemen from Africa. Most of those migrants are intent on reaching Yemen and the Gulf countries for work opportunities. Yet upon arrival in Yemen, many discover they are unable to continue the journey due to the security situation, which includes severely restricted land routes and closed borders.

“A significant portion of the new arrivals are unaware of the severity of the situation in Yemen or the distance they will have to transit. They have found themselves stranded in a conflict-stricken country without access to basic needs and subjected to multiple forms of abuse, exploitation and violence,” said David Derthick, Chief of Mission in IOM Yemen.

Nonetheless, IOM estimates that nearly 100,000 migrants reached Yemen in 2017. By the end of 2018, this number will likely increase by 50 per cent.

The Organization’s VHR Programme is an orderly, humane option provided to migrants willing to return to their country of origin. Prior to departure, migrants receive lifesaving assistance – including food, non-food items and accommodation in addition to medical, mental health and psychosocial care.

As the returnees arrive in Ethiopia, they undergo health screenings before being temporarily housed at an IOM transit centre where they are provided with hot meals, health care referrals and assistance to reach their home communities or final destinations.

For unaccompanied and separated migrant children, IOM provides family tracing assistance, allowing them to eventually reunite with their primary caregivers.

Globally, IOM is committed to ensuring returnees can access opportunities that help them restart their lives and deter them from embarking on dangerous routes in the future.

In Ethiopia, IOM supports the reintegration of vulnerable returnees through vocational skills training, education, psychosocial support and small business grants. IOM Ethiopia seeks further funding to support the reintegration of vulnerable returnees from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and parts of Southern Africa.  

Additionally, IOM calls for long-term, sustainable measures that protect the dignity and well-being of migrants as they travel across the Horn of Africa and into Yemen. These include enhanced search and rescue missions along treacherous land and sea passages; solutions to the drivers of dangerous migration; and an end to the conflict in Yemen.

An upcoming conference, Drawing on Peace Dividends in the Horn of Africa to Ensure Urgent Enhancements in the Management of Migratory Flows to Yemen and the Gulf Countries, will be convened by IOM next week in Djibouti. The event will bring together governments in the Horn of Africa, and the Gulf, as well as UN and NGO partners, to identify practical solutions to dangerous migration flows and inform the new planning phase of the Regional Migrant Response Plan.

The governments of Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, as well as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, provide support for IOM’s voluntary return programmes.

IOM migrant assistance and protection activities in Yemen and Ethiopia are funded by Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America as well as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Looming famine in Yemen could put two million mothers at risk of death – UN agency

UN OCHA/Giles Clarke Four months-old Saleh, admitted in Al Hudaydah’s main hospital in April 2017, and his mother Nora. Close to half a million children and two million mothers in Yemen are at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition due to ongoing conflict.

The critical difficulties in accessing food in Yemen, and other hardships caused by the ongoing conflict, could lead to the world’s worst famine ever, and place up to two million malnourished, pregnant and lactating women at risk of death, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, said on Thursday.

“Lack of food, displacement, poor nutrition, disease outbreaks and eroding healthcare have heavily affected the health and well-being of 1.1 million malnourished pregnant and lactating women, causing numerous cases of premature or low-birth weight babies, severe postpartum bleeding, and extremely life-threatening labor processes,” UNFPA warned, adding that if the situation continues to deteriorate, up to two million mothers could end up being affected.

Since conflict escalated in Yemen in 2015 between non-state armed groups and a Saudi-led coalition in support of the Government, constant shelling and bombing has destroyed key civilian infrastructure across the country. Although targeting medical facilities is strictly forbidden under humanitarian law, nearly half of the health facilities are no longer operational, including those established to provide reproductive health services. As a result, many of these women go undiagnosed and untreated.

This past August, for example, Al Thawra, Al Hudaydah’s largest hospital – the only hospital of the area which provides critical neo-natal and emergency care – was attacked, putting the city’s almost 90,000 pregnant women and girls at great risk.

“I felt I was in hell because of what I saw,” said midwife Noha, who was working at the hospital’s obstetric ward when the attack took place on 2 August. “Now pregnant women prefer to give birth at home, where they are exposed to many risks and problems. They do not come to the hospital out of fear for their lives,” she explained.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is one of the worst in the world, with three quarters of the population requiring some form of life-saving assistance and protection, according to the UN’s humanitarian coordination office (OCHA). The conflict has rendered civilians’ access to food increasingly difficult through a combination of factors, including unprecedented inflation, import controls, and limited freedom of movement.

“There is now a clear and present danger of an imminent and great big famine engulfing Yemen: much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen during their working lives,” UN humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council last week.

Although the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is one of the world’s best funded crises, with 71 per cent of the 2018 appeal funded to date, the needs continue to grow and outpace the response. Working with limited funding, UNFPA’s support to the 184 health facilities that offer reproductive health services may stop if additional resources do not become available urgently.

UN targets half a million Yemenis in battle-scarred Hudaydah with cholera vaccine – UNICEF

UNICEF/Sadeq Al-Wesabi On 7 May 2018 in Aden, Yemen, a boy is vaccinated against cholera. UNICEF and WHO, in partnership with Yemen’s Ministry of Health, began another oral vaccination campaign the following August.

Over a year after cholera broke out in Yemen, killing more than 2,000 people, the disease is back and spreading fast in the Houthi-held port city of Hudaydah; a target of continued air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition to regain control of the city.

To mitigate the risks, on Saturday, the Ministry of Health and the UN launched a week-long cholera oral vaccination campaign, targeting the most vulnerable 500,000 women, children and men in and around the city. Other mitigating measures implemented by humanitarian organisations include the continued provision of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.

Yemen’s conflict has its roots in uprisings that date back to 2011, but fighting escalated in March 2015, when an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily at the request of Yemen’s President.

More than 70 per cent of all humanitarian aid, and food imports pass through the docks of Hudaydah, and it was one of the worst-hit cities in Yemen’s cholera outbreak last year – the worst in the world at its height.

On Thursday, the main hospital in Hudaydah was hit during an airstrike, further compounding the dire health situation in the city.

Fighting is still raging across much of Yemen and the escalating humanitarian crisis is the most acute of anywhere in the world this year.

As of Monday, about 88,000 thousand people had been reached with the cholera vaccine. This is the second of three phases of the campaign led by the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): the first one was administered in Aden and the final round of vaccines will be administered in other identified hotspot areas.

Grant Philip Leaity, UNICEF’s Deputy Director for Emergency Programmes, told UN News about the progress made so far and the challenges teams face on the ground.

.@UN agencies work together to ensure the protection of Yemenis against cholera. Children in Yemen are “looking for peace, the security of their families & their future” said @UNICEF's @grant_leaity @WHOYemen @UNICEF_Yemen pic.twitter.com/SqGKZXd0dI

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) August 6, 2018

46 Migrants Drown on Yemen’s Shores, 16 Still Missing

Tragedy struck migrants trying to cross from the Horn of Africa to find employment in Yemen and the Gulf, when their vessel capsized in high waves as it approached its destination in the early hours of 6 June.

 

IOM Yemen staff assist a migrant who survived drowning. Photo: IOM

UN Migration Agency staff were on the scene providing assistance to the traumatized survivors. IOM staff reported that 46 migrants had drowned, 37 men and 9 women. A further 16 remain missing, presumed dead.

At least 100 migrants crammed onto a smuggler’s boat that left the port of Bossaso, Somalia on 5 June.  They were reportedly all Ethiopian, 83 men and 17 women. After travelling through the night across the short but treacherous Gulf of Aden, their boat approached the shore at 5 am on 6 June.

Survivors said the passengers who were without lifejackets in the smuggler’s boat started panicking as high waves struck close to the shore. As the boat took on water, they were pitched headlong into the rough seas where so many succumbed.

“The Gulf of Aden’s shameful migration tragedy is one that is hidden in plain sight,” said Mohammed Abdiker, Director of Department of Operations and Emergencies.

“Over 7,000 poor migrants take this perilous journey every month; some 100,000 took it just last year. They are treated appallingly and go through horrendous conditions. This has to end,” he added.

IOM staff went to the scene and were providing medical assistance, health, food and psychosocial support to the survivors. The ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent ensured the burial of the deceased.

This tragedy is the latest of many to have befallen migrants traveling to or from Yemen.

Earlier this week IOM helped some 101 Ethiopian migrants leave Yemen through Hudaydah Port as clashes grew closer to the area. The migrants were brought to Djibouti after hours of delays on the high seas and are now being cared for. IOM is providing transport assistance at all stages of the journey in cooperation with its Government partners.

That group included nearly 51 women and 33 children, who had become stranded in the country and are among the most vulnerable cases from a larger group of about 300 migrants stuck in detention.

Both while travelling to and in Yemen, migrants are routinely abused by smugglers and other criminals, including physical and sexual abuse, torture for ransom, arbitrary detention for long periods of time, forced labour and even death. Some migrants get caught up in the conflict, sustaining injuries or dying from shelling, and some are taken to detention centres, both official and unofficial.

Through its Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme, IOM is providing transportation and return support from Yemen to the migrants’ final destinations in their home countries.

In 2017, IOM helped around 2,900 migrants and refugees return home from Yemen: 73 per cent of them were Somalis, 25 per cent Ethiopians and 2 per cent other nationalities. IOM has also helped 298 Ethiopian and 1,064 Somali migrants and refugees return home voluntarily to date (30/05) in 2018. Assisted spontaneous returns of Somali refugees are carried out in collaboration with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

In Yemen, IOM provides additional humanitarian assistance to migrants, including health care, shelter and aid items and psychosocial support, while also supporting displaced and conflict affected Yemenis. In Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti, IOM also provides emergency support to migrants starting out their journeys, while in transit and when returning.”