Famine looming in parts of Yemen, UN experts warn

The number of acutely malnourished children has increased by 34% compared with last year, a United Nations report says.

Acute malnutrition is rapidly escalating in Yemen, with famine looming in four districts, United Nations experts have said.

A report published on Sunday by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Technical Group in Yemen, covering areas under government control, said the most critical cases are emerging along the war-torn country’s Red Sea coast.

Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Arabian Peninsula, has been ravaged by years of war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis.

The conflict, which has stalemated for years, has caused economic collapse and precipitated one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The IPC report said malnutrition rates have significantly worsened due to a combination of factors including the spread of diseases such as cholera and measles, a shortage of nutritious food, a lack of drinking water, and broader economic decline.