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Saturday 11 Jul 2015 - 13:14 Makkah mean time-24-9-1436
Photo from UNICEF website
Geneva (IINA) – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday confirmed that Yemen's humanitarian crisis has reached a new low amid disintegrating health services and the spread of infectious disease among children.
The UN agency and its partners were stepping up a series of initiatives targeting Yemen's struggling children, including nutrition screening, vaccinations and other life-saving interventions, UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac told reporters here just hours before a ceasefire aimed at facilitating the delivery of critical relief is slated to begin.
Boulierac said that in the southern city of Aden, UNICEF had supplied emergency ambulances, as well as blood testing and transfusion services to ensure that injured children could receive immediate treatment. He added that the UNICEF team in Aden was also currently supporting an immunization campaign as part of a nation-wide drive aimed at vaccinating around one million children under the age of one against measles, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Our mobile teams and staff have to brave extremely hazardous conditions, risking their lives to reach children and women wherever they can. If they don't do that more children are likely to die from malnutrition and preventable diseases,” Julien Harneis, UNICEF representative in Yemen said in a press release.
“But what Yemen really needs now is a return to peace, a solution to the fuel and power crisis and restoration of regular health services.” Harneis added.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced the beginning of a humanitarian pause on Friday, to permit humanitarian actors to reach civilians in need.
According to the latest UN data, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen has been steadily deteriorating since the outbreak of fighting in late March 2015.
AB/IINA
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