The ongoing war in Yemen is causing halts in the importation and delivery of aid, causing widespread hunger. Those who are facing starvation are millions of women and children, the United Nations said on Wednesday, according to the New York Times.
Stephen O'Brien, United Nations humanitarian chief, said to the Security Council that "the scale of human suffering is almost incomprehensible."
Executive director of U.N. World Food Program Ertharin Cousin said that despite some aid trickling down to those who need it, fighting in ports during deliveries and lack of donor funding make it difficult for them to reach inner neighborhoods.
"All the signs that will lead us to the qualifiable definition of famine are in fact developing in front of our eyes," Cousin told Cairo reporters after a three days of doing missions all over Yemen.
"If we cannot support the commercial markets by ensuring that the ports are open... If we do not see increased donor supply, we are facing the perfect storm in Yemen," he said, according to Agence France-Presse. "The markets do not have the staple food that is necessary to meet the needs of the broader population... The humanitarian community does not have the necessary access or funds."
The World Food Program's study proves that food security is most uncertain in the lives of 1.3 million displaced people in Yemen. Since the conflict began in March, WFP has aided 3.5 million people with food supplies.
"Children are being killed by bombs or bullets and those that survive face the growing threat of disease and malnutrition," said Julien Harneis, UNICEF representative in Yemen. "As devastating as the conflict is for the lives of children right now, it will have terrifying consequences for their future".
The conflict in Yemen is caused by the Shiite rebels or Houthis with President Ali Abdullah Saleh's troops against southern separatist groups such as local militaries, Sunni Islamic rebels with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's infantry, Fox News reported.
