Save the Children, a British Non Profit Organisation has warned that 5 million children are at risk of famine in Yemen as the Saudi-led coalition carries out a major offensive on a strategic port in the country.
On Tuesday, the coalition launched a campaign to regain control of the rebel Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, according to state media in the United Arab Emirates, a partner in the coalition.
Save the Children has said that damage to the port or its temporary closure would increase food and fuel costs, putting 1 million more children at risk of famine.
Save the Children International CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the “nutrition crisis… has serious implications” for the country’s young.
“Millions of children don’t know when or if their next meal will come. In one hospital I visited in north Yemen, the babies were too weak to cry, their bodies exhausted by hunger. This could be any hospital in Yemen,” Thorning-Schmidt said.
“What happens in Hodeidah has a direct impact on children and families right across Yemen. Even the smallest disruption to food, fuel and aid supplies through its vital port could mean death for hundreds of thousands of malnourished children unable to get the food they need to stay alive,” she said.
The port is an “essential lifeline” for goods and aid for approximately 80% of the country’s population, the organization estimates.
“Even the smallest disruption to food, fuel and aid supplies through its vital port could mean death for hundreds of thousands of malnourished children unable to get the food they need to stay alive,” said Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s country director for Yemen.
“It could drive up the price of fuel — and as a result transport — to such an extent that families can’t even afford to take their sick children to hospital.”
According to the United Nations, an assault on the port city could, in the worst scenario, could kill up to 250,000 people. Around 70% of humanitarian aid passes through the Red Sea port.
The military started fighting back in June but the fighting had to be stalled, especially in Hodeidah because the UN tried to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table. The latest attempt to bring about peace talks was in Geneva earlier this month but the Houthis didn’t travel as all sides blamed each other for obstructing the peace talks.
-CNN
