Agency: War in Yemen fuels mass cholera risk
Blocking of aid delivery must cease, official says
AMMAN, Jordan — Warring sides in Yemen and their international backers must stop blocking or delaying aid deliveries, a top official in the U.N. children’s agency said Sunday, warning that such practices have contributed to worsening malnutrition among children and hampered efforts to fight cholera.
Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF’S director for the Middle East and North Africa, spoke as civil war in the Arab world’s poorest country, a proxy battle between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, enters its fourth year.
The fighting pits Iran-backed
Shiite Houthi rebels against Yemen’s government, which is allied with a Saudi-led military coalition. The war started in March 2015 when the coalition began pounding the Houthis with airstrikes after they took control of the capital, Sanaa.
The war has damaged Yemen’s infrastructure, crippled its health system and pushed it to the brink of famine. The country suffers the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22.2 million people in need of assistance. Malnutrition, cholera and other diseases have killed or sickened thousands of civilians over the years.
Cappelaere briefed reporters in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Sunday, after returning from Yemen.
He called for an end to what he said was a brutal war against Yemen’s 11 million children.
Combatants and their backers must ensure free access for aid shipments without conditions, he said.
Cappelaere said precious weeks and months have been lost in haggling over the delivery of key supplies.
Last year, more than one million Yemenis suffered from cholera and watery diarrhea, he said, adding that the next outbreak is likely only weeks away.