Over 80,000 kids have died of starvation in Yemen: Guterres

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted the impact of the Saudi-led coalition against the impoverished country nearly four years ago on Yemeni children in a donor conference in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday.

“Children did not start the war in Yemen, but they are paying the highest price. Some 360,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, fighting for their lives every day. And one credible report put the number of children under 5 who have died of starvation at more than 80,000,” Guterres said.

The atrocious military aggression has significantly increased the number of internally displaced people to 3.3 million, and the figure marks a sharp uptick from 2.2 million recorded last year, the UN chief went on to say.

Warning of the worsening health and humanitarian situation in Yemen, he said “Over half of all health facilities are out of action, and nearly 20 million people lack access to adequate health care.”

“In 2017, the worst cholera epidemic in history reached unprecedented levels as water supplies and sanitation and public health services collapsed… Almost 18 million Yemenis still do not have adequate access to safe drinking water or sanitation.”

On the education field in the war-torn country, the UN chief said that “two million children in Yemen are out of school, and 2,000 schools have been directly affected by the conflict: damaged, destroyed, converted to shelter for the displaced or occupied by armed groups. And half of the teachers in Yemen have not been paid in over two years.”

Referring to the UN-brokered ceasefire agreement signed between the Yemeni National Delegation and Riadh-backed Delegation in December, Guterres acknowledged that significant challenges remained in implementing a withdrawal from the key Red Sea port of Hodeidah, emphasizing that progress has been slow in implementing a troop withdrawal.

The document of the agreed ceasefire in Hodeidah includes three provisions: a ceasefire along the Hodeidah front and the redeployment of armed forces out of the city and its port; an agreement on prisoner exchange; and a statement of understanding on the southern Yemeni city of Taiz.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, has accused in a statement the countries of aggression of not dealing seriously with the efforts of the international envoy or international efforts, pointing out that the given time for the aggression, by chairman of the Coordinating Committee General Michael Lollesgaard, to begin the redeployment has ended with no result.

He added that the obstruction of the aggression coalition to implement the first phase deprived the envoy to talk about progress in his briefing and that he has lost confidence.

The UN chief also announced that the World Food Programme (WFP) has been able to reach the Red Sea Mills food stores in the key port city of Hodeidah, where more than 50,000 tonnes of wheat - enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month.

Earlier on Tuesday, the National Delegation confirmed that a technical team of United Nations has left from the areas controlled by the Army and Popular Committees safely to the Red Sea mills in the province of Hodeidah. While, on the other hand, the US-Saudi mercenaries opened fire on the UN team after crossing the last point controlled by the Army and Committees.

Although the Army and Popular Committees have made a lot of concessions and started implementing the first phase of the redeployment in Hodeidah, the US-Saudi aggression and its mercenaries hindered and delayed and did not abide by the implementation of the agreement and continued their violations.

The Armed Forces Spokesman, Brig. Yahya Sare’e, confirmed on Tuesday that during the past 72 hours the aggression committed 283 violations targeting residential neighborhoods, farms and houses of citizens.

"We call on the United Nations, its Special Envoy and the head of the international observer team to take a firm and serious stance on the intransigence and procrastination of the forces of the aggression and its mercenaries," he said in a statement to Saba.

Brig. Sare’e said that the aggression and its mercenaries have no desire to implement the agreement, stop the war, end the suffering of our People. They only try to bypass the terms of the agreement, as well as continue their intensive violations. “Many heinous crimes against our people have been committed by these forces,” he added.

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