As the conflict in Yemen passes the grim 1,000-day milestone, the United Nations is warning that if humanitarian workers cannot gain greater access and the violence does not subside, the cost in lives will be incalculable.
After separate airstrikes on a crowded market and a rural farm left nearly 70 people dead earlier this week in Yemen, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country denounced the incidents and reminded the warring parties of their international legal obligations to spare civilian lives and infrastructure.
With close to three-fourths of all people in Yemen in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations top relief official has underscored the need to keep all ports open to both aid and commercial vessels so that life-saving assistance reaches those in desperate need.
The total number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has crossed one million, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today, urging greater efforts to tackle the outbreak and deal with the deteriorating health situation in the war-torn nation.
A plane charted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) landed in Sana’a, Yemen, on Thursday, delivering nearly 6 million doses of essential vaccines to protect millions of children at risk of preventable diseases, including the current diphtheria outbreak that has reportedly infected over 300 people and killed 35.
The United Nations envoy for Yemen on Wednesday called for halting violence and supporting efforts to bring warring parties together for the resumption of the political process.
Voicing deep concern over the surge in civilian casualties in Yemen in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, following the killing of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh earlier this month, the United Nations rights office has urged all parties to the conflict to ensure that civilians are protected.
As hostilities intensify in frontline areas on Yemen’s west coast, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday that it is bracing for further displacement and a spike in humanitarian needs.
