UN: Over 18 million people in Yemen acutely hungry

During a Security Council meeting on Yemen, Tom Fletcher warned that the share of people unable to meet basic food needs had jumped from half to nearly 60 percent in just one month.

The proportion facing the most extreme deprivation rose from a quarter to nearly a third over the same period. “If nothing changes, hunger will deepen, suffering will grow, more lives will be lost,” he said.

More than 2.2 million children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished, and without sustained intervention, many will carry lifelong consequences, he warned.

The hunger emergency is being driven by what he described as a lethal combination of conflict, economic collapse, rising prices, shattered livelihoods and an overstretched health system.