UN warns of dire nutrition status for Yemeni children

13/8/2025 7:37

The United Nations on Tuesday warned of a dire nutrition situation for children in Yemen, calling for increased funding to scale up urgent emergency food and nutrition support.



Half of the nation's children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition, and nearly half suffer from stunting, according to a briefing to the Security Council by Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the Coordination Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on behalf of UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher.



This means developmental delays and infections, and a risk of death from common illnesses nine to 12 times higher than average, said Rajasingham, adding that in a context where health care is desperately inadequate and where support services are unavailable to many, this is a life-or-death gamble for children.