Aid agencies warn famine in Yemen will risk an entire generation

An entire generation of people needed to rebuild Yemen after years of civil war are at risk from famine, aid agencies fear.

Eight years of fighting between Saudi Arabia-backed government forces and Houthi rebels in Yemen has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 21 million people in need of help to survive.

According to the UN children’s fund Unicef, 2.3 million children are acutely malnourished and nearly 400,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition are at imminent risk.

Annabel Symington, of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in Yemen, said: “You speak to mothers who barely eat so they can try to scrape together enough to feed their children yet their children are still suffering from malnutrition. WFP treats them, they get better, then they slide back into malnutrition again.

“Yemen is at risk of losing an entire ­generation to malnutrition, and that’s the generation Yemen needs to rebuild when peace finally comes.”

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The WFP feeds 13 million people in Yemen, but is cutting back rations for eight million due to a lack of funding from donor countries, including Britain. Symington said: “We are reducing food for the hungry in order to feed the hungriest. It’s really heartbreaking.”

According to UN estimates, 377,000 people died as a result of the war in Yemen last year.

Huw Owen, from Disasters Emergency Committee Scotland, said: “More than 20 million people are in need in Yemen, the pandemic is continuing to threaten lives with less than 1% of the population fully vaccinated. After years of war and destruction the hospitals are not prepared to cope with something like Covid.

“DEC member charities have been ­providing support for the people of Yemen since July 2020. With the continued support of the Scottish and UK public we can provide people with hope.”

Meanwhile, arms companies are making billions of pounds from arms sales to Saudi Arabia, helping to prolong the conflict.

Last year The Sunday Post revealed how Saudi forces in Yemen used armoured vehicles, missiles, anti-tank rockets and warplane-targeting systems made in Scotland.