Malnutrition in Yemen on the rise in government-controlled areas, UN task force says

“This sharp increase is due to the combined effect of epidemics (cholera and measles), food insecurity, limited access to drinking water and economic decline,” the group explained.

Malnutrition cases have increased sharply in government-controlled areas of Yemen, with malnutrition levels “extremely critical” in some areas in the south of the country, a UN working group warned on Sunday, August 18.

“The number of children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition, or wasting, increased by 34% compared to the previous year (…), affecting more than 600,000 children, including 120,000 suffering from severe malnutrition”said the working group on the integrated food security classification (IPC) in Yemen, which brings together several United Nations agencies. “This sharp increase is due to the combined effect of epidemics (cholera and measles), food insecurity, limited access to drinking water and economic decline”the group explained.

Yemen has been embroiled in a conflict since 2014 between the government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Houthi rebels, backed by Iran. The war has plunged the country, already the poorest in the Arabian Peninsula before the conflict, into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the UN.

For the first time, coastal areas south of Hodeidah and Taiz have reached levels of acute malnutrition “extremely critical”with a prevalence greater than 30%, the group added in a press release.

Several international organizations have had to reduce their operations in the country due to a lack of funding. The World Food Programme (WFP) “is currently being forced to provide smaller rations, and these results should remind us that lives are at stake”said its representative in Yemen, Pierre Honnorat. The country could “fall further into food insecurity and malnutrition if current low levels of humanitarian funding persist.”