United Nations: Yemen’s Situation is ‘Catastrophic’

A senior United Nations relief official said on Tuesday that after three years of war, living conditions for people in Yemen are “catastrophic,” and given the ongoing risk of famine and cholera outbreaks, the country faces the world’s largest humanitarian disaster.

The report came one day after Russia vetoed a British-proposed resolution in the UN Security Council to pressure Iran over sending weapons to the Houthis. The UN Security Council also continued discussions on Yemen’s situation on Tuesday.

Jan Egeland, director of UN relief operations, told the Security Council: “After three years of war, conditions in Yemen are catastrophic. The destruction of people’s lives continues, and since November, when armed clashes intensified, approximately 100,000 more people have been displaced.”

Twenty-two million Yemeni people are in need of food assistance, and about 8.4 million of this population are on the brink of starvation.

Egeland added that since April 2017, approximately 1.1 million people have contracted cholera, which is the largest outbreak of this disease worldwide. Diphtheria has also returned to Yemen for the first time since 1982.

“The Risk of Famine in Yemen is Serious”

Mark Lowcock, head of the UN’s humanitarian assistance department, also said on Tuesday that the situation and humanitarian crisis in Yemen is “catastrophic.” He added that after three years of war and 22.2 million people in need of assistance, this is a critical situation.

Mark Lowcock also criticized the Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates coalition on one hand and Houthi fighters in Yemen on the other for prolonging the conflict and thereby endangering civilian lives.

Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned the Security Council that under Yemen’s current conditions, famine is a serious risk.

In the Yemen war between Saudi Arabia, which supports the government, and Houthi insurgents that began in 2015, thousands have lost their lives in the poorest Arab country in the world.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen whose mandate has ended, said in his final report to the Security Council that over the past two months, military clashes have significantly increased in several regions, including areas along Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the conflicting parties have pursued destructive behavior that yields no political benefit.

He also told Security Council members that peace negotiations had been agreed upon by all parties but failed to be signed at the last moment. He called for a new round of talks.

The report indicates that according to a UN panel of experts report released in January, the ballistic missiles fired by Houthi insurgents toward Saudi Arabia are of Iranian manufacture. However, Russia rejected this conclusion.

Sheikh Ahmed, who played the role of mediator in peace negotiations for three years, said: “The warring parties continue a policy of avoiding dialogue, which has pushed the country further into poverty and destruction.”

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed expressed particular concern about the recruitment and arming of thousands of child soldiers, particularly by Houthi insurgents.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Martin Griffiths from Britain to replace Sheikh Ahmed as the UN Special Envoy to Yemen this month.

Source: Radio Farda