UN officials urge int’l community to assist Yemen, Somali to prevent economic “collapse”
NEW YORK, July 2 (KUNA) — Two UN officials on Wednesday depicted a grim picture of the humanitarian situation in Yemen and Somalia, warning that the crises in both countries will get worse unless the international community steps up its efforts to avoid an economic “collapse.” John Ging, Operations Director for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Ted Chaiban, Emergency Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told a press conference following a week-long visit to Somalia and Yemen that “urgent action” is needed to address immediate needs and long term drivers of instability.
In Yemen, more than half of the population – a total of 14.7 million people – need humanitarian assistance. Widespread acute food insecurity, ongoing instability and conflict and near absence of basic services make this one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, yet it is woefully underfunded, with only 33 percent of identified needs met, Ging said.
The country is on “the brink of economic collapse,” he warned, and longer term fiscal and governance reforms, as well as significant investments in livelihoods, agriculture and basic service provision, are needed to prevent the crisis from worsening and “to stem the instability which risks spilling over into the region.” Somalia is not in a better shape. “It is at a crossroads,” with 50,000 children severely malnourished, including many at risk of death within weeks if they do not get the treatment they need.
“We have a small but critical window to do what’s needed to prevent a repeat of 2011,” Chaiban said, adding that in Yemen, the sheer numbers of children suffering from life-threatening or debilitating forms of malnutrition are even greater due to chronic underdevelopment and persistent insecurity.
“Failure to act decisively to address humanitarian needs will not only lead to another humanitarian crisis but will also undermine the peace and state-building gains of the last two years, jeopardizing this rare window for Somalia to graduate from failed state status,” Ging said.
“All the signs we saw before 2011’s severe famine are here – reduced humanitarian access, insecurity, increasing food prices, delayed rains and rapidly worsening malnutrition among children. It is vital that we act now to avert another disaster,” he added.
Noting that funding for both countries is at “dangerously low levels,” he urged donors to help build on the gains made in both countries, warning that “if we fail to act now, set-backs are inevitable, which could have repercussions well beyond Somalia and Yemen”.