Humanitarian Conditions in Yemen ’Shocking’: UN Official
Local Editor
UN aid Chief Mark Lowcock voiced alarm at the "shocking" humanitarian conditions in conflict-hit Yemen and called on warring parties to respect international law.
Concluding a five-day mission, his first to Yemen, Lowcock said on Saturday that the war in the impoverished Arab nation should end through a political process.
"I came to Yemen to better understand the deteriorating humanitarian crisis, including the fastest-growing cholera epidemic the world has ever seen, the world's largest food insecurity and conditions of widespread population displacement," Lowcock said.
"It's been shocking to see the terrible impact of this man-made conflict," he told reporters before leaving Sanaa.
"The UN calls on all parties... to uphold the highest standards of international humanitarian law and respect human rights with respect to everyone including detainees and journalists," he added.
He said he urged officials in Aden and Sanaa to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those who need it, and called for reopening Sanaa airport for commercial and humanitarian flights.
Lowcock said he saw severely malnourished children, visited hospitals with barely any electricity and water and met health workers who have not been paid for months.
The United Nations is providing direct assistance to seven million Yemenis, but the program needs to do more and it requires more support, he said.
The UN described Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis.
More than 8,650 people have lost their lives in the war and around 58,600 others have been wounded, many of them civilians.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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