Three other civilians are believed to have been injured in the attack that reportedly struck a residential building in the tense military area of Al Hawak in Hudaydah governorate late Saturday (local time).
“These devastating and ongoing civilian casualties are yet another violation of international humanitarian law and the provisions of the Hudaydah and Armistice agreements,” said Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha, head of UNMHA and chairman of the redeployment coordinating committee.
Lt. General Guha appealed to both parties to prevent further misery from being inflicted on an already suffering population and reiterated the call for freedom of movement for UNMHA to allow its military observers access to sites of recent and significant military hostilities.
“This will enable UNMHA to better assess the conflict and continue to support the parties to the Hudaydah Agreement in implementing the terms of the ceasefire.”
“One step away from famine”
Along with years of brutal war, severe economic decline and institutional collapse, Yemenis are experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than 20 million people across the country need help and protection. Almost 50,000 people are already living under famine and about five million just one step away.
To make matters worse, the funds for relief operations run out quickly. It will take $ 3.85 billion this year to help 16 million people in need. With this in mind, the United Nations, together with the Swedish and Swiss governments, are holding a high-level pledging event on Monday to raise funds for relief efforts in Yemen.
“A sufficiently financed relief operation will prevent the spread of famine and create the conditions for lasting peace. If you don’t feed the people, you are feeding the war, ”said Mark Lowcock, UN emergency aid coordinator.
“We are at a crossroads with Yemen. We can choose the path to peace or let the Yemenis plunge into the worst famine in the world in decades, ”he warned.
Childhood in Yemen “a special kind of hell”
UN Secretary General António Guterres explained the impact of the crisis on Yemen’s most vulnerable children.
“For most people, life in Yemen is now unbearable. Childhood in Yemen is a special kind of hell, ”he said
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), children make up around 54 percent of children in need of support in Yemen.
One of the biggest problems is hunger for young children and babies. Humanitarian warnings that nearly half of children under five in Yemen will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021 and that 400,000 could die without urgent treatment.
“This war is devouring a whole generation of Yemenis. We must end it now and deal immediately with its enormous consequences. This is not the time to withdraw from Yemen, ”Guterres urged.
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