Local Editor
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA), Mark Lowcock, said that the wider humanitarian situation in Yemen “remains catastrophic”.
During a briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, Lowcock stated that “more than 24 million people now need humanitarian assistance – that’s 80 per cent of the population. They include 10 million people just a step away from famine. More than 3.3 million people have been displaced – over 600,000 of them in the last 12 months.”
“Millions of Yemenis are hungrier, sicker and more vulnerable now than they were a year ago,” the UN aid chief told Security Council in New York on Wednesday.
The war between the Houthis and troops loyal to the resigned regime escalated in March 2015, when former President Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia.
Soon, a devastating military campaign was launched by a Saudi-led coalition in support of Hadi's resigned regime.
The conflict has unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, which says 80 percent of the population - 24 million people - are in need of aid.
The Security Council is considering the creation of a new observer mission to Yemen to monitor the ceasefire in Hodeida, oversee the pullback of forces and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed the deployment of up to 75 observers to Yemen for an initial period of six months to shore up the ceasefire while talks on a broader peace deal are held.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
