Shafaq News/ OnTuesday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that half of Yemen’schildren under five are acutely malnourished, as the country reels from adecade-long conflict and deepening humanitarian crisis.
“One in every twochildren under the age of five is acutely malnourished,” said Peter Hawkins,UNICEF’s representative in Yemen, during a press briefing in Geneva. “Theconflict has reached a tragic stage – it has stolen children’s futures andforced a whole generation to fight to survive.”
Hawkins revealed morethan 537,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, alife-threatening condition, warning that 1.4 million pregnant and breastfeedingwomen in Yemen are also malnourished. “This is not just a health crisis – it isa death sentence for thousands,” he said. “The effects of this crisis will befelt for decades.”
UNICEF’s humanitarianappeal for Yemen in 2025 has so far received only 25% of its required funding,he added. “Without emergency resources, we will not be able to deliveressential services to meet the growing needs.”
Among those affected isBothaina, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl from Abyan in southern Yemen.Diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and stunting, she is significantlyshorter and weaker than a healthy child her age. Her 10-month-old sister Bonahsuffers from the same condition.
Stunting – when achild’s height-for-age falls more than two standard deviations below WorldHealth Organization standards – is a result of chronic undernutrition, oftenlinked to poverty, poor maternal health, and inadequate feeding in early life.
The first 1,000 days ofa child’s life — from conception to their second birthday — are critical forphysical growth and brain development. “For Bothaina, that crucial window wasmarked by scarcity,” said her 19-year-old mother, Mariam.
Mariam, who married at16, lives in a cramped home shared with her in-laws. Her husband’s occasionalincome from motorcycle driving barely covers food. “We just try to keep themfed,” she said.
Now in its tenth yearof war, Yemen has witnessed one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Over80% of the population requires humanitarian aid, and millions are on the brinkof famine. A fragile truce since April 2022 has reduced large-scale fighting,but conditions remain dire across the country.
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