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Battling malnutrition in Yemen: helping children recover and thrive
A female health worker providing treatment to one of the malnourished children
17 August 2023 – One of the most severe consequences of the conflict in Yemen has been widespread food insecurity and increasing numbers of malnourished children. The current level of hunger across the country is unprecedented, with 17 million Yemenis facing food insecurity. Child malnutrition in Yemen is among the highest in the world, with almost 2.2 million Yemeni children under the age of 5 acutely malnourished, including 538 000 children severely malnourished and 60 000 children suffering from critical medical complications as a result of severe acute malnutrition.
Agricultural activities, trade routes, and food supply chains have been disrupted, and food prices are spiking as a result of limited availability Before the conflict, Yemen was facing significant challenges related to food production and water scarcity. The situation now, after 8 years of conflict, is exponentially worse.
The daily fight between life and death in Yemen
17 August 2023 – Five-month-old Malak lives with her mother and 2 siblings in Al-Mukalla city, an area affected by devastation as a result of the prolonged conflict. Like many of the babies and children in her area, Malak started her young life suffering from malnutrition as a result of her family’s extreme poverty. The youngest of the 2 siblings, Malak was born just before her parents divorced. Her mother was forced to become the sole breadwinner amidst the country's challenging socioeconomic situation.
The silent cries of hunger in Yemen
18 August 2023 – After the conflict cast its shadow on Yemen, many families were forced to leave their areas of origin and flee to other locations for security and shelter. This was the case with Khaled's family, who fled their home in Al Hodeida to Aden for protection.
Living in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) after they left their hometown, Khaled's father struggled to find work, leaving them in with limited resources and unable to afford even the most basic food like plain bread. Hunger severely impacted Khaled’s health, and symptoms of malnutrition – swelling of the feet and hands with loss of appetite – began to appear.
A trip for life: sustaining life-saving health services in priority governorates of Yemen
15 August 2023 – While pregnant and waiting for the day she could finally hold her new child in her arms, she was faced with the devastating news of her medical diagnosis instead. Louza Saleh, from Sa’adah governorate, was pregnant with her third child when she started to feel extremely sick and lost her ability to walk. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was told the devastating news of her diagnosis of renal failure.
“My sickness started during my pregnancy, I bled a lot and didn’t know what was wrong. I became sicker each day, I lost my ability to walk, work and lead a normal life. That was when I doctors told me that I have a kidney failure and need to start doing dialysis sessions,” said Louza.
