Yemen Monitor/ Newsroom:
NEW YORK – Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has warned that mass hunger must not be allowed to define Yemen’s future. He called on the UN Security Council to work for the immediate release of UN staff members kidnapped by the Houthi group.
Fletcher’s remarks came during a briefing to the Security Council on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, where he revealed that the food crisis has worsened to unprecedented levels, threatening further humanitarian disasters.
Fletcher pointed out that Yemen has become the third most food-insecure country in the world, with an additional one million people expected to join the list of those suffering from severe hunger, bringing the total to 17 million Yemenis by next February.
He stated that 70% of Yemeni families do not have enough food to meet their daily needs, which is the highest rate ever recorded. Half of the population is suffering from acute food deprivation, an increase from just 36% a year ago. “One in five families goes without food entirely for a full day and night,” he added.
Challenges to Humanitarian Work
Fletcher emphasized that a difficult operating environment and a lack of funding are hindering the delivery of essential aid. He noted that funding cuts are costing lives. For example, two million women and girls have lost access to reproductive health services in a country where a woman dies every two hours during pregnancy.
The UN official expressed deep concern over the Houthi group’s detention of 22 UN staff members since August 31, in addition to 23 employees who were previously detained, along with dozens of workers from international and local organizations.
Fletcher condemned the arbitrary detention of UN staff, the storming of UN offices, and the confiscation of equipment, stating that these actions undermine the organization’s ability to provide necessary assistance. He stressed that detaining humanitarian workers “does not help the Yemeni people, does not feed the hungry, and does not heal the sick,” demanding the immediate release of all detainees and the protection of humanitarian workers.
Fletcher concluded his briefing with three urgent calls:
- The immediate release of all arbitrarily detained staff.
- The return of UN headquarters by the Houthis to ensure that humanitarian partners can do their work.
- The provision of necessary funding to respond to the food insecurity and malnutrition crisis, to prevent mass hunger from defining Yemen’s future.
This briefing came two weeks after the Houthis targeted UN offices, which has affected their work, and amid efforts by the Special Envoy to find a political path to the crisis.
