An entire generation is struggling for survival. Half of Yemen's children under the age of five suffer from severe malnutrition.

The United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF ) announced on Tuesday that one in two children under the age of five in Yemen suffers from acute malnutrition, after a decade of ongoing conflict.

This came in a statement following a press conference held at the Palais de Geneva on the situation of children in Yemen after ten years of conflict, according to the UN organization's website.

"One in two children under the age of five suffers from acute malnutrition. Among them, more than 537,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition ( SAM ), a painful, life-threatening condition that is entirely preventable," the organization said.

She added: "Malnutrition weakens the immune system, stunts growth, and robs children of their potential. In Yemen, it's not just a health crisis; it's a death sentence for thousands."

“Time is of the essence here,” she stressed. “Every minute counts for these 527,000 severely malnourished children. A child with severe acute malnutrition is 11 times more likely to die than their healthy peers. Without treatment, they will die in silence. Even survivors face dire lifelong consequences—impaired cognitive development, chronic illness, and lost economic potential. This is not just Yemen’s loss, it’s humanity’s failure.”

“The conflict in Yemen has reached a tragic milestone – more than a decade of largely continuous conflict, with brief, fragile periods of reduced hostilities, has stolen childhood, shattered futures, and left an entire generation struggling to survive,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Yemen.

He added: "I stand before you today not only to share the numbers, but to raise the voices of millions of children trapped in one of the world's worst protracted humanitarian crises - a crisis characterized by hunger, deprivation, and now an alarming escalation."

"Another 1.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished, perpetuating a vicious cycle of intergenerational suffering," Hawkins said.

He pointed out that "despite these extremely difficult and often dangerous operating conditions, UNICEF remains on the ground, working to provide services to children."

The organization's statement emphasized that this disaster is not natural, but man-made. More than a decade of conflict has devastated Yemen's economy, health system, and infrastructure. Even during periods of reduced violence, the structural consequences of the conflict—especially on children—remain dire.

He explained that more than half of the population depends on humanitarian aid to survive. Food prices have risen 300% since 2015. Vital ports and roads—the lifelines for food and medicine—are damaged or blockaded.

The organization indicated that in 2025, it will continue to support 3,200 health facilities, treat 600,000 malnourished children, 70 mobile teams, 42,000 community health workers, and 27 therapeutic feeding centers. For this to continue, we need sustained funding. Otherwise, 7.6 million people in Yemen are at risk of losing access to primary health care.

To achieve this, the organization called for full funding of the response plan, stressing that the 2025 appeal is only 25% funded so far. It noted that it needs an additional $157 million for this year, in addition to sustained investment in combating all forms of malnutrition, disease, lack of education, and other forms of suffering that children in Yemen are forced to endure.

She also stressed the need to protect unhindered access to humanitarian aid and enable humanitarian workers to do what they do best: saving lives. She reiterated her call on the Houthis to release detained UN staff and other humanitarian workers.

The UN organization concluded its statement by saying, "The children of Yemen cannot wait another decade. They need peace and justice. But above all, they need us to act now. Let us not fail them."