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2 Million Children in Yemen Could Fall Victim to Malnourishment

VOA News

   United Nations agencies warned Friday thatalmost 2.3millionof Yemen's
   children under the age of five are projected to fall victim to
   acutemalnutrition in2021.
   Without immediate care,400,000of theyoungsterscouldsuffer severe acute
   malnutritionandcould die without immediate care.
   Thephysical andcognitivedamagemalnutritionshowers onchildren in their
   first two yearsis"largelyirreversible," the agencies say.
   "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."
   Compounding thechildren'smalnutrition is themalnutritionof Yemen's1.2
   millionpregnantor breastfeedingwomen.
   "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 Food and Agriculture
   OrganizationDirector-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."
   "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,World Food ProgramExecutive Director David
   Beasleysaid in a statement. "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."

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