Children of Yemen Vulnerable to Countless Risks: UNICEF

YemenExtra

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned of the growing danger to the lives of 5 million children under the age of 5 in Yemen due to the cholera epidemic and the five-year Saudi aggression against Yemen, which it described as “brutal.”

The representative of the organization, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, considered that the children of Yemen are still subject to a number of countless dangers that threaten their survival due to Saudi aggression.

The United Nations Children’s Fund “UNICEF” transmitted a distress call in an attempt to protect more than five million Yemeni children under the age of five from the risk of a cholera epidemic, especially with the recent floods.

The organization’s representative, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, considered that the tragedy in Yemen is still unfolding to the world with all its manifestations, warning of the danger of the spread of COVID-19 in the country. She stressed that the international organization still considers the risk of the epidemic to be very high in the impoverished country.

Nyanti called for an end to the five-year brutal aggression against Yemen to prevent the spread of devastating diseases that kill many people, especially the children of the vulnerable.

The international representative also said in a statement that the danger posed to more than five million children under the age of five in Yemen is exacerbated by the cholera epidemic and acute watery diarrhea, as the country continues to witness an increase in the frequency of heavy rains since mid-April.

She also revealed that more than a hundred and ten thousand cases are suspected of cholera in two hundred and ninety regions since the beginning of this year. Children under five represent a quarter of those cases, she confirmed.

Nyanti also affirmed that the children are still exposed to countless risks that threaten their survival, considering that the spread of cholera on a wider scale, high levels of malnutrition, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the Corona pandemic at the present time are all causes that may exacerbate the burden on children and their families.

The heavy rains and recent floods witnessed by Aden, Abyan, Lahj and the city of Sana’a led to the interruption of drinking water services and disruption of sanitation facilities. The wet season also resulted in the destruction of homes and the abandonment of families from their homes, providing an ideal environment for an outbreak of cholera.