UNICEF says Yemen is 'on the brink' after years of war

A senior United Nations official warned on Monday that Yemen is "on the brink of collapse" after years of civil war.

According to the Associated Press, Ted Chaiban, UNICEF director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that two million children in Yemen are suffering from "acute malnutrition" and five million are on the brink of famine.

He said that currently, it is the efforts of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations that are keeping the country afloat, warning that "if this effort falls apart, everything will fall apart."

UNICEF, the United Nations children's fund, has appealed to global donors for $2.5 billion in emergency funding for Yemen, and Ted Chaiban sounded the alarm on Monday about the worsening humanitarian situation in the country.

Ted Chaiban described the overall situation in the Middle East and North Africa as bad, saying that from Syria and Lebanon to Ethiopia and Sudan, the situation for children and families is not good, and that the Middle East alone accounts for 40 percent of UNICEF's $6 billion request for global aid.

Source: Radio Farda