UN warns of mass famine in Yemen over Saudi blockade of aid
United Nations (United States) – Yemen is facing a mass famine that will affect millions of lives unless the Saudi-led coalition ends its blockade and allows aid deliveries into the country, the UN aid chief warned Wednesday.
Mark Lowcock, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned “it will be the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims.”
The UN official spoke to reporters after briefing the UN Security Council during a closed-door session on the crisis in Yemen, where the coalition has been waging a military campaign against Huthi rebels since March 2015.
The council demanded that the Saudi-led coalition keep Yemen’s air and sea ports open to aid deliveries in a country where seven million people are already at risk of famine.
Council members expressed concern about the “dire humanitarian situation in Yemen” and stressed “the importance of keeping all of Yemen’s ports and airports functioning,” Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, who holds the council presidency, told reporters after the meeting.
© AFP – UN aid chief warns that seven million people are already at risk of famine in Yemen as a result of the conflict
