‘Thousands Will Die’: UNICEF Warns of Starvation in Houthi-Plagued Yemen

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday that Yemen’s west coast is “on the verge of a catastrophe” in which “thousands will die” from malnutrition.

“We’ve seen figures of 33% severe and acute malnutrition in certain areas, especially on the West Coast, which is where I was in Hodeidah, and that is on the verge of a catastrophe,” said Peter Hawkins, chief representative of UNICEF for Yemen.

Hawkins said half of the children in Yemen age five and younger are “acutely malnourished,” and over 537,000 of them suffer from “agonizing, life-threatening, and entirely preventable” severe acute malnutrition.

“Malnutrition weakens immune systems, stunts growth, and robs children of their potential. In Yemen, it’s not just a health crisis — it is a death sentence for thousands,” he said.

“It’s not a humanitarian crisis. It’s not an emergency. It is a catastrophe where thousands will die,” he warned.

Hawkins spoke from Yemen’s capital city of Sana’a, which was captured by the Iran-backed terrorist insurgency known as the Houthis in 2014. He described the hunger crisis as “man-made” but seemed reluctant to blame it on the Houthis, who have been illegally attacking shipping — including food shipments — in the Red Sea to support the Hamas terrorists of Gaza since October 2023.

Instead, Hawkins talked about damage to the port city of Hodeidah from recent U.S. airstrikes intended to suppress Houthi piracy, claiming eight children were killed during those strikes.

“Critical ports and roads, lifelines for food and medicine are damaged and blockaded,” he said.

Hawkins noted that over half of Yemen’s population has come to rely on humanitarian assistance, since the long Yemeni civil war has destroyed the nation’s economy and healthcare system. The Houthis still seem to have plenty of money to buy weapons from Iran, however.

Hawkins called for another $157 million in funding for UNICEF’s humanitarian response in Yemen and also demanded “all parties to the conflict” must “allow unimpeded delivery of aid.”

“We call for the release of detained U.N. staff and other humanitarian workers. And, importantly, for the conflict to cease,” he said.

The U.N. says 23 of its staff members are currently held prisoner in Yemen, all of them captured by the Houthis. One aid worker for the U.N. World Food Program reportedly died in captivity.

A UNICEF report on Tuesday warned that “stunting” — growth impairment by malnutrition during the first years of a child’s life — is on the rise in Yemen, even as it declines almost everywhere else. Stunted children are likely to suffer both physical and cognitive problems throughout their lives.