Today, more than 17.4 million Yemenis are food insecure; an additional 1.6 million “are expected to fall into emergency levels of hunger” in the coming months, taking the total of those with emergency needs, to 7.3 million by the end of the year.

Famine to rise fivefold

Of extreme concern to humanitarians is the likelihood that the number of people experiencing “catastrophic”– or famine-like – levels of hunger, will increase fivefold, from 31,000 now, to 161,000, by 31 December.

“These harrowing figures confirm that we are on a countdown to catastrophe in Yemen and we are almost out of time to avoid it,” said World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley.

“Unless we receive substantial new funding immediately, mass starvation and famine will follow. But if we act now, there is still a chance to avert imminent disaster and save millions.”

Fight for Marib

The development comes as heavy fighting was reported over the weekend between Yemeni Government troops and Ansar Allah separatists – also known as Houthi forces – around the oil-rich northern city of Marib, which is still under government control, killing and wounding dozens of combatants.

The fighting took place as UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, ended his first week of consultations with key Yemeni parties in a push for a peaceful and sustainable future for the country which has been locked in escalating conflict since 2015.

Ahead of a High-Level Pledging Event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen this Wednesday, the UN’s top aid official in Yemen, David Gressly, said in a tweet that funding was “urgently needed to sustain food and nutrition support, clean water, basic health care, and protection. Parties to the conflict can reduce aid reliance by reducing restrictions on the economy.”

The warning from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WFP, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) followed surge of violence across Yemen, which left at least 47 children killed or maimed in January and February.

Lacking the basics

After seven years of fighting, “many households in Yemen are deprived of basic food needs”, said Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In a search for solutions, the FAO chief added that the agency was working “directly with farmers on the ground to foster their self-reliance through a combination of emergency and longer-term livelihood support, to build up their resilience, support local agri-food production, and offset people’s reliance on imports”.

Empty stomachs

Highlighting the long-lasting, negative impact on children, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned that “more and more children” were “going to bed hungry” in Yemen.

“This puts them at increased risk of physical and cognitive impairment, and even death,” Ms. Russell added. “The plight of children in Yemen can no longer be overlooked. Lives are at stake.”

© WFP/Hebatallah Munassar
An infant eats supplementary food at a World Food Programme distribution 
point in Mokha, Yemen.

By 2022, UNICEF alone requires $484.4 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

According to the latest food insecurity analysis, there’s been a rise in acute malnutrition among children under five in Yemen, and new mothers.

Across the country – already one of the world’s poorest before the conflict escalated – 2.2 million children are now acutely malnourished; an additional 500,000 youngsters face severe acute malnutrition, which is a life-threatening condition.

Among the worst-hit governorates are Hajjah, Hodeida, and Taizz.

Pregnant or nursing mothers are also at risk from the dire lack of food, with around 1.3 million acutely malnourished, according to the new Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis on Yemen, released on Monday.

“The resounding takeaway (of the IPC findings) is that we need to act now,” said Mr. Gressly, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. “We need to sustain the integrated humanitarian response for millions of people, including food and nutrition support, clean water, basic health care, protection and other necessities.”

Violence to blame

Conflict is widely blamed for creating Yemen’s disastrous economic slide in recent years – and for driving up hunger levels – as the Yemeni Rial’s depreciation pushed food prices in 2021 to their highest levels since 2015.

Albeit happening thousands of miles away, the Ukraine crisis prompted by the Russian invasion is expected to lead to “significant import shocks” and higher prices, as 30 percent of Yemen’s wheat imports come from Ukraine.

“Peace is required to end the decline, but we can make progress now,” insisted Mr. Gressly. “The parties to the conflict should lift all restrictions on trade and investment for non-sanctioned commodities. This will help lower food prices and unleash the economy, giving people the dignity of a job and a path to move away from reliance on aid.”

Citing “disturbing new food security data” published by the World Food Programme (WFP), Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock stated that some 60 per cent of the population “do not have regular access to enough safe and nutritious food”.

“The increase may be shocking, but it cannot be said to be surprising”, he said via video link.

‘Desperate measures’

The UN official told the Council that average household expenses now exceed income by an estimated 20 percent, leaving millions to resort to “desperate measures” to survive.

More than 70 percent of Syrians say they have taken on new debt, and are forced to sell assets and livestock. Meanwhile, parents are eating less so they can feed their children, who are now working instead of studying.

“Those who have run out of options are simply going hungry”, he spelled out, flagging that more than half a million under-fives are suffering from the effects of stunting.

Looking north

While these problems are visible in many parts of the country, Mr. Lowcock drew attention to the northwest and northeast, where nutrition data show that up to one in three children in some areas, suffer from the irreversible development and learning impacts of stunting.

“A doctor at a pediatrics hospital told me that of his 80 in-patient beds, half are occupied by malnourished children”, five of whom had died due to their condition, he said.

Meanwhile, malnutrition has become so normal that parents cannot spot the signs in their own children, another doctor told the relief chief.

Cross-border assistance

Some physicians shared their concerns that cross-border aid into Syria’s northwest may be disrupted, prompting Mr. Lowcock to stress the importance of humanitarian access.

“All humanitarian assistance that enters northwest Syria is delivered cross-border” and supports 2.4 million people monthly, he said. Without it, “the situation would go from terrible to catastrophic”.

“When it comes to delivering life-saving aid to people in need, all channels should be made, and should be kept, available”, the UN official said, echoing the Secretary-General.

Should the Security Council fail to extend its authorization for cross-border assistance in the future, he warned that it would “trigger suffering and loss of life potentially on a very large scale”.

Turning to the northeast, Mr. Lowcock informed ambassadors that recent tensions have caused temporary disruptions in emergency assistance for hundreds of thousands of people.

While the UN has continued to scale up crossline medical deliveries there, expanding its reach is dependent on approvals, improved security conditions and adequate funding.

OCHA
Sixteen families live in a damaged school in Binish, a city in northwest Syria.

Protecting civilians

He painted a picture of a series of “horrific bombings” that killed dozens and injured many others, a humanitarian worker killed while helping COVID-19-affected people on 16 February, and a hospital damaged when a missile struck an adjoining building,

Every day, humanitarian workers in Syria deliver aid under the most difficult circumstances and at great personal risk, Mr. Lowcock said, spelling out: “They must be protected”.

He informed the Council that the third draft of UN Strategic Framework for 2021-2023, which covers the UN country team’s agreed operational activities, is moving forward and noted those activities are complementary to the Humanitarian Response Plan “to save lives, enhance protection, and increase resilience and access to services”.

“This is essential at a time when the economy continues to suffer a severe decline, poverty and hunger are on the rise, and humanitarian needs are also increasing”, he concluded.