This is Haifa*. When this photo was taken at the end of last year, she was 11 months old, but she weighed just 2.7kg – the weight of a newborn baby.
Haifa was extremely weak when her mother brought her in to the therapeutic feeding centre in Khalifa hospital in Taiz, a facility supported by Save the Children.
She was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and pneumonia, and admitted to hospital.
World’s worst famine
Haifa’s story is far from unique. The UN has warned that Yemen is “speeding towards the worst famine the world has seen in decades”. Children are already “starving to death”.
More than 2 million children under the age of five are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition this year. Without urgent care, 400,000 of these children are likely to die.
And more than a million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in the course of 2021. More children will be born into hunger.
With less than 50% of health facilities fully operational in Yemen because of the conflict, gathering the detailed technical data required to declare a famine is extremely difficult. But famine or no famine, we know that today children in Yemen are dying of starvation. We must act now.
“If you don’t feed people, you feed conflict”
The hunger crisis in Yemen is entirely man-made. Today, conflict is the number one driver of hunger globally and the relationship between the two is complex and mutually reinforcing. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “If you don’t feed people, you feed conflict.”
In Yemen, food insecurity is highest in areas where there is active fighting, resulting in displacement, difficulties accessing markets and reduced humanitarian access.
Six years of conflict have decimated the economy. Inflation is at an all-time high, and rising food prices have made basic food items unaffordable for many families. People have lost their livelihoods and many public sector workers who have continued to work are doing so without pay.
Yemen is reliant on imports for 88% of its food supply which has been severely disrupted. Vital infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. At the same time, local food production has been reduced due to the fighting, economic collapse and natural hazards, such as flooding. COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity due to its knock-on effect on the economy and unemployment levels.
Humanitarian access has been impeded by all parties to the conflict. The current fuel crisis means that food trucks are unable to reach their destinations, hospitals cannot run their generators, and families cannot afford to take their children to the hospital.
“In the past, malnurtion cases were not as they are now. Now they have increased. Some cases die at home. They cannot even get to the hospital,” says Dr Saeed, who works at Khalifa hospital, and who treated baby Haifa for malnutrition.
Don’t look away
Children with severe acute malnutrition are nine times more likely to die than well-nourished children. Many die due to its indirect effects – childhood illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia that they are too weak to survive. In Yemen, at least one child dies every ten minutes due to such preventable diseases. And now cholera season is fast approaching.
At the start of this month, donors pledged less than half of the $3.85 billion the UN says Yemen needs in 2021. And at this crucial moment, just when the UK government needs to show leadership, it has announced plans to cut aid to Yemen by almost half. In the words of the UN diplomat Mark Lowcock, the UK has decided to “balance the books on the backs of the starving people of Yemen”.
Yes, countries around the world are all struggling with the economic fallout of COVID-19. But that does not mean the UK can look away as children in Yemen face man-made starvation. Last year, due to funding cuts, Save the Children had to withdraw its support from 41 health facilities providing community management of acute malnutrition, infant and young child feeding, and primary health care services.
Push for peace
Thankfully, Haifa was able to get the food and medicines she needs to survive. Now, at one year old, she weighs 3.5kg, her heart rate, breathing, appetite and movement have improved, and she is laughing and smiling again. But she still needs help to recover. More funding is desperately needed to ensure children like Haifa continue to receive life-saving support.
And there's more to do.
As long as the conflict continues, so will the deadly cycle of hunger. Humanitarian assistance is only a sticking plaster.
That's why the UK must also increase its efforts to make sure all parties return to the negotiating table and engage with the UN led peace process to bring an end to this war.
The UK must not turn its back on the children of Yemen.
Act now to support Yemen's children: Email your MP.
* Name changed to protect identity
