Local Editor
UN leaders including WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, and WFP Executive Director David Beasley issued Thursday a joint statement calling on the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen to lift its blockade on the impoverished Arab state.
The leaders stated that the “closure of much of the country’s air, sea and land ports is making an already catastrophic situation far worse.”
The statement also read, “We issue another urgent appeal for the coalition to permit entry of lifesaving supplies to Yemen in response to what is now the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”
The leaders reiterated that “the clock is ticking and stocks of medical, food and other humanitarian supplies are already running low. The cost of this blockade is being measured in the number of lives that are lost.”
Some 17 million people do not know where their next meal is coming from and 7 million are totally dependent on food assistance. Severe acute malnutrition is threatening the lives of almost 400,000 children. As supplies run low, food prices rise dramatically, putting thousands more at risk.
The World Food Program estimates that an additional 3.2 million people will be pushed into hunger. If left untreated, 150,000 malnourished children could die within the coming months. To deprive this many from the basic means of survival is an unconscionable act and a violation of humanitarian principles and law.
The Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Yemen since 2015. The military aggression has killed more than 12,000 people and wounded tens of thousands of others. The bombing campaign has also destroyed the infrastructure and forced the closure of dozens of hospitals and medical facilities.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
