The worst place in the world to be a child right now is Yemen. Hunger, disease and bombs are a triple threat to children.

What’s going on in Yemen? The war and humanitarian crisis.

There is a real threat of famine. Families are down to one meal a day as food gets harder to find and more expensive. 1.8 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished and are therefore at a greater risk of death.

There has been a total collapse in basic services – hospitals have been bombed, rubbish collection has stopped, and water and sewage pipes have been damaged. More than half of all health facilities have closed or are only partially functional. One child dies every ten minutes from treatable diseases including cholera and diphtheria – children need more than paracetamol and plasters to survive.

Despite the violence, our dedicated teams continue to operate in nine provinces in the North and South. But, moving both people and aid into and within the country, is difficult and there are high-security risks to both our staff and children and families we’re supporting.

Please donate today to provide the most basic life-saving interventions for children.

 

You can save lives today: Donate to Yemen

Save the Children is the largest agency on the ground in Yemen right now. You can help the relief effort and save children in Yemen by giving a donation today.

 


Stories from the field: Starving children in Yemen

 

Suha* is 8 months old and she was suffering from acute malnutrition when we met her in a health centre in Taiz, Yemen. Her mother, Mariam*, 26, has two children, and her husband is unemployed, so getting enough food is a daily struggle. The family’s usual meals consist of bread, tea, fried dough and sometimes rice but they can’t afford any vegetables. 

Mariam brought Suha to the healthcare centre supported by Save the Children in a district in Taiz governorate. There, the health workers examined her, taking her measurements and weighing her to check for malnutrition. Once diagnosed, Mariam was provided with nutritional supplies for Suha, and she was also given advice on how to best feed Suha. 

Suha’s mother says:

"My name is Mariam and I am 26 years old.

The main cause of our suffering is poverty and (a lack of) food. When a mother gets pregnant, children don’t get enough nutrients.

The situation in this country is not good. These days, prices have increased.

Because of the war there are no jobs. There are many unemployed people.

My husband used to have a job but now he is unemployed. 

In this health facility they [Save the Children] have provided me with food supplies for my children, they did all the necessary measurements and I want to thank them for their services.

My hope for the future is to have our own house and for my husband to get employed, my kids to be comfortable and food to be at their reach."

 

How Save the Children is helping Suha's family and the malnourished children in Yemen:

Save the Children fully supported the primary health care at this health facility, which includes integrated management of childhood illnesses, reproductive health services, and community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) services, including the Outpatient Therapeutic programme.

Save the Children also supported Therapeutic Supplementary Feeding Programmes (TSFP) and community mobilization, along with training for local health workers. 

*Names changed to protect their identity