Yemen: The world’s ‘worst humanitarian crisis’ in numbers

FILE – In this May 9, 2015 file photo, boys carry relief supplies to their families who fled fighting in the southern city of Aden, in Taiz, Yemen.
It comes as aid groups say coalition airstrikes are destroying critical infrastructure and that the coalition needs to do more to facilitate the delivery of fuel, food and medicine at Yemeni ports.
(Abdulnasser Alseddik, File/Associated Press) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen was already the poorest country in the Arab world before a Saudi-led coalition went to war with Iran-allied rebels in March 2015 in a failed bid to drive them from the capital and much of the country’s north.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced $1.5 billion in new humanitarian aid for Yemen and vowed to expand the capacity of Yemen’s ports to receive fuel, food and medicine, as well as establish “safe passage corridors” to ensure transportation of aid to non-governmental organizations inside Yemen.
The amount pledged represents about half that demanded by the U.N. in its latest humanitarian appeal.
— More than 22 million people, including 11 million children, are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to U.N. officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross — More than 8 million people are totally dependent on food assistance and considered a “step away from famine”, according to the U.N. — An estimated 17.8 million Yemenis are considered “food insecure,” meaning they do not know where their next meal will come from, according to the U.N. — More than 400,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the World Food Program — Some 15.7 million Yemenis lack access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services, according to the ICRC — Some 16.4 million Yemenis lack access to adequate health care, according to the U.N. — Another 24.3 million lack access to public electricity, according to the ICRC — Yemen, a country of 27 million people, imports about 90 percent of its staple food and nearly all of its fuel and medicine, according to the U.N. — Since the start of the war, Human Rights Watch has documented 87 apparently unlawful attacks by the Saudi-led coalition, some of which may amount to war crimes, killing nearly 1,000 civilians and hitting homes, markets, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
— The price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas increased in December by more than 200 percent from its pre-war cost, according to the World Food Program.
— There were more than 1 million suspected cholera cases reported last year and more than 2,230 associated deaths, according to the World Health Organization — As of late December, there were 381 suspected diphtheria cases in Yemen and 38 associated deaths, nearly all of them children under 15, according to the World Health Organization.
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