UN agencies: Severe hunger reaches unprecedented levels in Yemen

The United Nations agencies warned that Yemen is about to fall into a catastrophic hunger crisis, where 17.4 million people currently need food aid.

FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warned that the humanitarian situation in the country is expected to worsen from June to December 2022.

At the same time, an additional 1.6 million people in the country are expected to fall into emergency levels of hunger, bringing the total to 7.3 million by the end of the year, UN agencies said in a joint statement.

Yemen’s Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, David Gresley, said the integrated progress classification underscores the deterioration of food security in Yemen.

“We need to act now, we need to continue the integrated humanitarian response to millions of people, including food, nutrition, clean water, basic health care, protection and other essential things,” Gresley said.

He added, “Peace is needed to end the deterioration, but we can make progress now”.