THE UN humanitarian chief has warned “there is a clear and present danger of an imminent and great big famine engulfing Yemen”.
Mark Lowcock told the Security Council that this famine would be “much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen during their working lives”.
He said “the situation is now much graver” than when he warned of famine in Yemen at the beginning of 2017 and again last November.
Lowcock said the UN thinks last month’s estimate that 11 million people could face “pre-famine conditions” was wrong, and the number is actually 14 million – half of Yemen’s population.
The conflict in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by Houthi Shiite rebels, who toppled the internationally recognised government.
A Saudi-led coalition allied with the government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
Civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict, which has killed over 10,000 people and sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and a cholera epidemic.
At the beginning of 2017, the United Nations and its partners were able to provide aid to 3 million hungry Yemenis.
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