THE six-year conflict in Yemen has led
to a serious humanitarian crisis for its
people, but the most unfortunate victims
of the war without doubt are its innocent
and vulnerable children. The findings of
four United Nations agencies this week
that more than 2m Yemeni children less
than five years old are expected to suffer
from acute malnutrition this year should
be a wake-up call for all
stakeholders. There are also fears that
1.2m pregnant or breastfeeding women
in the country will face acute
malnourishment in the months ahead, a
reality that underscores that for every
starving child there is an entire family at
risk. The fresh alarm follows repeated
warnings about a famine in Yemen and
the looming deaths of children. Save the
Children estimates that between 2015
and 2018 alone, around 85,000 children
have died as a result of malnutrition.
The new finding predict greater suffering, economic strife and
death for an already crushed population..
This is yet another heartbreaking
reminder that this war — which Saudi
officials in 2015 said would last a few
weeks — must come to an end. If
anything can prick the conscience of the
warring sides, the plight of Yemeni
children should be it. This war has
brought the poorest Arab country to the
brink of famine due to the Saudiimposed blockade. There is some hope
on the horizon with the Biden
administration’s pronouncement that the
war must end, but America’s role in the
conflict as a key ally of the Saudi-led
coalition battling the Iran-allied Houthis
makes this a complicated foreign policy
matter which will not be resolved
overnight. Meanwhile, innocent Yemeni
citizens have no say in the future of their
country; they are dying either as a direct
result of the conflict or due to the
ensuing humanitarian crisis. All
stakeholders must wake up to the plight
of the Yemeni people, for it is
unconscionable that they must suffer
more death, disease and starvation than
they have endured already in the
conflict..