Yemen | Malnutrition on the rise in some areas

(Dubai) Malnutrition cases have risen sharply in government-controlled areas of Yemen, with malnutrition levels “extremely critical” in some areas of the south of the country, a UN task force warned on Sunday.

“The number of children under five suffering from acute malnutrition, or wasting, has increased by 34% compared to the previous year. […]affecting more than 600,000 children, including 120,000 suffering from severe malnutrition,” said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) working group in Yemen, which brings together several UN agencies.

Yemen has been embroiled in a conflict since 2014 between the government, supported by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, and the Houthi rebels, supported 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.

“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 said in a statement published by UNICEF.

Its latest report covers 117 government-controlled areas, all of which are expected to see high levels of malnutrition between July and October.

Coastal areas south of Hodeidah and Taiz have reached “extremely critical” levels of acute malnutrition for the first time, with prevalence exceeding 30%, the statement added.

“The report confirms an alarming trend,” said UNICEF Representative in Yemen Peter Hawkins, as several international organizations have had to scale back their operations in the country due to lack of funding.

The World Food Programme (WFP) “is currently 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,” he warned.