UNICEF: Yemen has the highest malnutrition rates in the world

The United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF ) said that Yemen has the highest rates of malnutrition in the world.

“In many areas of Yemen, access to food, clean water and health care remains critically inadequate as a result of the ongoing conflict and economic crisis in Yemen,” she added in a recent report.

She continued: "This has greatly exacerbated the malnutrition crisis, which has recorded the highest rates in the world."

The organization pointed to the latest analysis of acute malnutrition in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, issued in August of last year, which revealed a 34 percent increase in the number of children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition, or wasting, compared to the previous year (2023 AD) in all areas under government control, affecting more than 600,000 children, including 120,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition.

The organization noted that the sharp rise in malnutrition can be attributed to the outbreak of cholera and measles, as well as the continued high rates of food insecurity.

In response, the organization said it had launched, alongside the Ministry of Health, and with support from the Canadian International Development Agency - Global Affairs Canada, an integrated multi-sectoral campaign on the west coast in government-controlled areas, with the aim of stopping the rising tide of malnutrition, measles and rubella cases among children aged 6 to 59 months.

She explained that the campaign benefited 45,000 children from life-saving ready-to-use therapeutic foods, measles vaccines, and multiple micronutrient powder supplements. This campaign was also integrated with the distribution of chlorine tablets to purify water to ensure safer water in homes and behavior change activities for caregivers.