UN agency warns four out of five Yemenis still in need of humanitarian assistance

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday reported that there are still more than 21 million people in need of humanitarian response in Yemen, making up 80 percent of the population.

Meanwhile, restrictions are severely constraining commercial imports, which are needed to meet 95 percent of basic requirements including food and fuel before the crisis, said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq at a daily briefing held here Thursday, quoting the OCHA data as saying.

Following more than six months of escalating ground fighting, air strikes and shelling, people in different areas of Yemen are suffering from acute shortage of water, food, electricity, gas and fuel.

UN statistics show that 3.7 million Yemenis have been provided access to potable water; 2.6 million Yemenis have improved access to health care through the provision of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel to health facilities; and 2.4 million Yemeni children have been vaccinated against measles.

In addition, the lives of 97,000 severely malnourished children have been saved through intensive treatment for malnutrition; 184,000 displaced and needy Yemenis have received household supplies such as blankets, buckets and kitchen sets, according to Haq.

"The United Nations has established a logistics hub in Djibouti where assistance is sent to Yemen by sea, as well as flights for the humanitarian community to Sana'a and Aden," he added.

The situation in Yemen is characterized by large-scale displacement, civil conflict, food insecurity, high food prices, endemic poverty, diminishing resources, and influxes of refugees and migrants.

The ground battles and airstrikes have left more than 5,000 people killed in Yemen, half of them are civilians, according to reports. Endit