Yemen: ten thousand children killed or injured since the start of the war, according to the UN
Ten thousand children have been killed and injured in Yemen since the start of the conflict, a spokesperson for Unicef in Geneva said on Tuesday (October 19th).
Truls Brekke / UNICEF
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Ten thousand children have been killed and injured in Yemen since the start of the conflict, said a spokesperson for Unicef in Geneva on Tuesday, October 19, returning from a mission in the country.
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"
The conflict in Yemen has just passed a shameful stage with
10,000 children killed or injured since the fighting began in March 2015. That makes four children every day,
" denounced James Elder, spokesperson for the Fonds des United Nations for Children at the regular UN briefing in Geneva. "
Of course these are the numbers that the United Nations can confirm, a much larger number of children killed and injured are not known except by their families,
" he stressed.
Mr Elder said Unicef needed $ 235 million "
by the middle of next year
" to be able to maintain the level of aid.
“
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen - the worst in the world - is the result of the tragic convergence of four threats: an enduring violent conflict, a devastated economy, crumbling services for all aid systems, be it the health, food, water or sanitation, protection and education, and a severely under-funded UN operation
, ”Elder said.
►
See also:
Yemen: behind the rebel offensive in Marib, an increasingly complex war
Eleven million children are in need of humanitarian aid
"
At the current level of funding, and if the fighting does not stop, Unicef cannot reach all these children
" and "
without more international aid these children - who have no responsibility in this conflict - will die
», He hammered.
Four out of five children in Yemen are in need of humanitarian aid, a total of 11 million, also recalled Mr. Elder.
Some 400,000 suffer from acute malnutrition and 2 million are deprived of school.
►
To read also:
Giles Clarke: "Yemen is facing the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world"
Yemen has been the scene of a war since 2014 between pro-government forces and the Houthis, rebels close to Iran who control much of the north of the country including the capital Sana'a.
Since 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition has intervened to support loyalist forces.
In seven years of war, tens of thousands of people have been killed, most of them civilians, and millions have been displaced, according to international organizations.
(With
AFP)
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