(Foreground) a woman spoon-feeds her child at the UNICEF-supported therapeutic feeding centre at the Yemeni Swedish Hospital in the south-western city of Taiz. Behind them, other women also feed their malnourished children. All the women wear niqabs. In 2007 in Yemen, over 80 per cent of the population lives in remote rural areas, where access to water, health care, education and other basic services is limited. These hardships are exacerbated by discrimination against girls and women, high fertility, large family size and a limited food supply. One in 10 children dies before his or her fifth birthday, mostly from preventable causes, including diarrhoea, respiratory infection, malaria and malnutrition. Widespread malnutrition is the principal cause of 50 per cent of child deaths. About half of all children are underweight, and half are stunted, contributing not only to physical illness but to potential cognitive delays. In addition, a vast amount of land and water is devoted to growing khat, a mild narcotic, which has no nutritional value and competes with food for the family income. Almost half of Yemeni girls receive no primary education, and two-thirds of women are illiterate, while more than 10 per cent of the nation's workforce are children. Boys often migrate to cities in search of work or to escape domestic abuse. UNICEF is working with the Government to formulate national strategies on child protection issues, including: birth registration; girls' education; the elimination of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); and the prevention of child trafficking, including psycho-social support and family tracing services for affected children. UNICEF also supports community-based therapeutic feeding, literacy programmes for women and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention training.

Diphtheria Outbreak Worsens Amid Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Last updated Jan 18, 2018

YemenExtra

SH.A.

International aid agencies published a joint statement on Tuesday (January 16), calling for the Yemeni port of Hudaydah to remain open past Friday, the end of a 30-day concession period to a blockade imposed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

The ongoing of coalition has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to Reuters. More than 8 million people are completely dependent on international food aid and some 400,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which is potentially fatal.

“The lives of Yemenis, of whom more than 22 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, depend on keeping the ports open without interruptions or delays,” Jamie McGoldrick, the United Nations Development and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, says in a statement.

The humanitarian crisis is compounded by a rapidly spreading outbreak of diphtheria. There have been 678 diphtheria cases and 48 associated fatalities in the past four months in Yemen, and the number of cases has doubled in the past month, Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

Chaib added that Hudaydah is one of the worst-afflicted Yemeni governorates struck by the disease and that 19 percent of diphtheria cases are in children under five years old—an age group with an elevated risk of dying from the illness. The disease can be controlled with vaccinations and by administering antibiotics.

Websites