Yemen Crisis: UNICEF Warns of Severe Malnutrition Among Children After a Decade of War
Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF representative in Yemen, has called for urgent action to address the escalating humanitarian crisis in the country. “We need to move fast,” he stressed. After spending three days in Hudaydah and the western lowlands, he described a heartbreaking scene of people begging on the streets, desperate for help. “They have given up. We cannot give up,” he urged.
Speaking from Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, Hawkins emphasized that the ongoing conflict has devastated the nation’s economy, healthcare system, and infrastructure. More than half of Yemen’s nearly 40 million people now rely on humanitarian aid.
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Humanitarian Aid in Peril
UNICEF plays a vital role in delivering life-saving medical care and malnutrition treatment across Yemen. However, the organization’s efforts are severely underfunded, with only 25% of its operations covered this year. Without immediate financial support from donors, even the most basic services will be unsustainable, Hawkins warned.
For over a decade, Houthi rebels, also known as Ansar Allah, have been engaged in conflict with government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition. They overthrew President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in March 2015.
While large-scale ground battles have not resumed since the UN-mediated truce of April 2022, military activity persists. On March 6, Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, warned the Security Council that the fragile ceasefire is increasingly at risk.
Recent U.S. airstrikes on Houthi-controlled territories were reportedly carried out in response to continued Houthi attacks on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea following the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire.
Hawkins personally witnessed extensive damage in Hudaydah, a key port city, and reported that eight children had died in recent airstrikes in northern Yemen.
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Obstacles to Food and Medical Supplies
The humanitarian crisis is made worse by the destruction and blockade of critical ports and roads, which are essential for delivering food and medicine. Over the past decade, food prices have surged by more than 300%, increasing hunger and malnutrition levels.
According to UNICEF, every second child under the age of five in Yemen is malnourished—a rate rarely seen anywhere else in the world.
“Among them, over 540,000 children suffer from severe and acute malnutrition—an agonizing, life-threatening, and entirely preventable condition,” Hawkins stated.
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A Catastrophe in the Making
Millions of Yemeni children remain out of reach of essential treatment, trapped in remote mountainous villages and deep valleys with no access to healthcare. “Malnutrition weakens immune systems, stunts growth, and steals children’s future,” Hawkins warned.
The crisis also impacts 1.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, perpetuating a cycle of starvation and suffering across generations.
In some areas, particularly in western Yemen, severe acute malnutrition has reached alarming levels of 33%.
“This is not just a humanitarian crisis or an emergency—it is a catastrophe. If the world does not act, thousands will die,” Hawkins concluded.
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