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1.8 million children estimated to suffer from malnutrition in Yemen: UNICEF

Xinhua, August 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday that 1.8 million children in Yemen are likely to suffer from malnutrition by the end of this year.

Anthony Lake, UNICEF's executive director, released the figure in a statement, while expressing his concerns about the current humanitarian situation in Yemen, especially the challenges facing the children.

UNICEF estimates that the education of over 1.8 million children has been interrupted by school closures and more than 20 million people are struggling to get the safe water and sanitation they need, according to Lake.

"No nation, no society, can afford to lose its children to conflict -- whether from direct attacks, from malnutrition, from disease, from lack of education, or from the traumas of the horrors they witness," he said.

In addition, Lake condemned an air strike on a teachers' office in Amran, Yemen Tuesday night which killed 13 educators who gathered to prepare exams for thousands of children who had missed the end of their school year because of the brutal conflict across the country.

"A selfless activity, turned in a moment into senseless bloodshed," he said.

Lake said the awful attack on the eve of World Humanitarian Day violates the values the world is celebrating today.

The World Humanitarian Day, annually observed on Aug. 19, honors those who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and also seeks to draw attention to humanitarian needs worldwide and the importance of international cooperation in meeting these needs.

"Surely, this World Humanitarian Day should be the last on which we have to mourn the death of so many children, and those who serve them -- their lives lost to bloody conflicts not of their making," he added.

As Yemeni conflict drags on, UN humanitarian wings have warned of deepening impact of the continued conflict on civilians, with four in five Yemenis requiring humanitarian aid, and nearly 1.5 million people being internally displaced. Endit