الرئيسية
Nearly four million people will be affected by Yemen's crisis in
2012, UN agencies said in Dubai on Sunday, warning that the restive
Arabian Peninsula country is on its way to becoming another Somalia.
"About four million people will be affected by the crisis in Yemen in
2012 and will require immediate humanitarian support," said the United
Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
"While there have been significant political developments in Yemen,
humanitarian needs are forecast by all actors to deteriorate still
further over the next 12 months," UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen,
Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, told reporters.
Kelly Gilbride, policy adviser of Oxfam, said UNICEF assessments of
the cities of Hudaydah in the west and Haja in the north put
malnutrition rates at above 30 percent.
"These (figures) are comparable to Somalia. We are talking about
severe malnutrition rates," she said on the sidelines of a photographic
exhibition in Yemen's oil-rich regional Emirati neighbour.
"Basic food prices have skyrocketed almost 50 percent (while) prices
in fuel have peaked at five times the average amount" in the already
poor nation, Gilbride said, adding that the crisis affects all of Yemen.
"This is why it's staggering at this point. We're not just talking
about conflict affected areas any more. Men, women and children across
Yemen are not able to find enough food every day."
Yemen has been rocked by months of deadly anti-government protests
that destabilised the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who
has agreed to step down in February 2012 after 33 years in power.
A transitional unity government was sworn in on December 10, and on
Saturday a military commission began removing checkpoints and barricades
erected during the protests, raising hopes that Yemen might begin to
see an end to nearly a year of unrest.
"One of the biggest problems we've been facing is that there is no access to all areas," Toyberg-Frandzen told AFP.
2012, UN agencies said in Dubai on Sunday, warning that the restive
Arabian Peninsula country is on its way to becoming another Somalia.
"About four million people will be affected by the crisis in Yemen in
2012 and will require immediate humanitarian support," said the United
Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
"While there have been significant political developments in Yemen,
humanitarian needs are forecast by all actors to deteriorate still
further over the next 12 months," UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen,
Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, told reporters.
Kelly Gilbride, policy adviser of Oxfam, said UNICEF assessments of
the cities of Hudaydah in the west and Haja in the north put
malnutrition rates at above 30 percent.
"These (figures) are comparable to Somalia. We are talking about
severe malnutrition rates," she said on the sidelines of a photographic
exhibition in Yemen's oil-rich regional Emirati neighbour.
"Basic food prices have skyrocketed almost 50 percent (while) prices
in fuel have peaked at five times the average amount" in the already
poor nation, Gilbride said, adding that the crisis affects all of Yemen.
"This is why it's staggering at this point. We're not just talking
about conflict affected areas any more. Men, women and children across
Yemen are not able to find enough food every day."
Yemen has been rocked by months of deadly anti-government protests
that destabilised the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who
has agreed to step down in February 2012 after 33 years in power.
A transitional unity government was sworn in on December 10, and on
Saturday a military commission began removing checkpoints and barricades
erected during the protests, raising hopes that Yemen might begin to
see an end to nearly a year of unrest.
"One of the biggest problems we've been facing is that there is no access to all areas," Toyberg-Frandzen told AFP.