These are shocking figures: The aid organization Save the Children estimates that since April 2015, around 85,000 children have starved to death.
The dimension of suffering takes your breath away. According to estimates by the relief organization „Save the Children“, around 85,000 children under the age of five may have died as a result of extreme hunger since 2015 in the Yemen war.
This is clear from a report published on Wednesday. „Save the Children“ used data from the United Nations, based on which the organization estimated child mortality. Even with a cautious presumption, it will kill almost 85,000 children in the period between April 2015 and October 2018. „For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens die of starvation and disease,“ says Country Director Tamer Kirolos.
18 million Yemenis do not have enough to eat
According to the World Food Program of the UN and other relief agencies, 18 million of the 27 million inhabitants of the Arab country do not have enough to eat. Thousands of children are chronically malnourished and threatened with starvation.
Many Yemenis also have to reckon at any time that they will be the victims of one of the daily bombing raids. The infrastructure is destroyed, only a few clinics and schools are still in operation. There are no jobs, the prices of staple foods have skyrocketed at the same time. Yemen is considered the most devastating humanitarian disaster in the world.
Hope for a ceasefire
In the poorhouse of the Arab world, the government and a military coalition under Saudi Arabia’s leadership are fighting against Houthi rebels backed by Iran. Now a new attempt is to be made to end the war. The UN special envoy Martin Griffiths has therefore traveled to the capital Sana’a to prepare for possible negotiations.
The prospects for an end to the fighting have improved somewhat over the past few days. For one, because the US is pushing for peace. It was time for an end to the fighting, said recently, for example, Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo.
