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Senior United Nations officials warned of an appalling humanitarian situation in Yemen, amid intensifying conflict, famine and a fully-fledged cholera outbreak, as they briefed the Security Council on Wednesday evening.
Cholera was spreading rapidly and infecting children, elderly persons and other vulnerable groups, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, warned, pointing out that there were now more than 300,000 suspected cases and over 1,700 deaths resulting from the outbreak.
Joining Ahmed in briefing the Council was Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO); and José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
They described horrifying conditions faced by the Yemeni people and stressed that fresh funds were needed. Each briefer also highlighted the need to pay doctors, who had not received their salaries for months. Yemen was already the world’s largest food-insecure emergency, they said. Seven million people lived on the cusp of famine, and nearly 16 million had no access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene. Nearly all the country’s health facilities had closed, and many doctors and nurses had fled. Supplies of medicine remained extremely limited. In addition to famine and a cholera outbreak, Yemenis also faced intensifying conflict.
“I am deeply concerned by the continued targeting of civilians,” Ahmed said. Emphasizing that security continued to be undermined by the activity of extremists, including Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, he reiterated: “As I have stated here many times, the longer the conflict lasts, the more the terrorist groups will expand and threaten Yemen’s future.”
The speed and scale of the cholera outbreak highlighted the consequences of a collapsed public sector system, he continued, calling on donors to contribute more. He appealed to the coalition forces and all parties to the Yemen conflict to support a resumption of flights specifically for the continued flow of humanitarian supplies and individuals requiring medical care.
O’Brien said the health system in Yemen had essentially collapsed. Spotlighting that the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan was only 33 per cent funded, he said that humanitarian partners were combating cholera with resources intended for food security. The cholera response required an additional $250 million, of which only $47 million had been received. Public servants must be paid immediately and health facilities must be reopened, he added, emphasizing that the United Nations and its partners could not replace State functions. Ending the conflict required the Council to lean more heavily and effectively on the parties as well as on those outside Yemen who were leading policy and action.
Ghebreyesus said that the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside its partners, was working with Yemeni authorities to reach people with treatment, safe water and adequate sanitation. While emergency activation centers had been deployed and critical life-saving supplies had been delivered, Yemen still faced an extreme shortage of doctors and nurses. Some had fled the country while others continued to come to work without receiving a salary in 10 months.
Da Silva painted a dark picture of Yemen’s food situation, underscoring that the country faced the world’s largest food crisis, with 17 million people — two thirds of the population — living in a state of severe food insecurity as of March 2017. That was an increase of 20 per cent from June 2016. Crop production in 2016 was down 40 per cent from pre-conflict levels and, due to expected poor rains, production in 2017 was likely to be lower still. Livestock faced a growing number of diseases that could threaten people as well. “Unless we take steps to address the conflict now, we will never truly overcome hunger in Yemen,” he warned.
In the ensuing discussion, Uruguay’s representative noted that the Council’s presidential statement of 15 June had been followed two days later by a deadly air strike on a market in a town near the border with Saudi Arabia. Those responsible for such barbaric acts, and their supporters, must stop. He added that it was in the Council’s competency to establish an investigative mechanism that would look into fundamental rights violations in Yemen.
Bolivia’s representative called on the Council to highlight the causes and situation that had led to the conflict in Yemen. “This is unfortunately a war that is being ignored,” he emphasized.
Sweden’s representative described as “horrifying” the rapid spread of cholera to all of Yemen’s governorates. He recalled that on 30 May, O’Brien had reported 55,000 suspected cases, adding that the number had surged to more than 300,000 by now. The increase was as much as 15,000-20,000 per day.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
