SOMALI YOUTH FOR PEACE: Horrifying images of starving children reveal the ongoing toll of Yemen’s forgotten war

Monday, October 31, 2016

Horrifying images of starving children reveal the ongoing toll of Yemen’s forgotten war

QUARTZ

GRIM REMINDER

A malnourished boy lies on a bed at a hospital in the Red Sea port city of Houdieda, Yemen September 9, 2016. (Reuters/Abduljabbar Zeyad)

Written by

Neha Thirani Bagri

Obsession

Borders

September 13, 2016

A young boy, his haunting eyes wide open, lies on a hospital bed in Houdieda, a port city in western Yemen. His lips are wrapped around his stick-thin arm, while a fly rests on his skeletal body. He is bare-chested and the outlines of ribs are clearly visible though his skin. A syringe lies on the sheets patterned with clouds and cartoons.

The raging civil war in Yemen, one of the world’s poorest nations, has been largely ignored in the deluge of news from the region. But a series of images of starving and malnourished children in Yemen show the nation’s mounting crisis.

A malnourished boy cries in his home in Sanaa June 20, 2012. One million Yemeni children face severe malnutrition within months as families struggle to pay for food in one of the Arab world's poorest countries, the U.N. World Food Programme has warned. Political turmoil has pushed Yemen to the brink of a humanitarian crisis and aid agencies estimate half the country's 24 million people are malnourished. Picture taken June 20, 2012. To match Interview YEMEN-HUNGER/ REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY HEALTH) - RTR353KA — A malnourished boy cries in his home in Sanaa June 20, 2012. (Reuters /Mohamed al-Sayaghi

A family with a malnourished child is pictured in their home in Sanaa June 21, 2012. One million Yemeni children face severe malnutrition within months as families struggle to pay for food in one of the Arab world's poorest countries, the U.N. World Food Programme has warned. Political turmoil has pushed Yemen to the brink of a humanitarian crisis and aid agencies estimate half the country's 24 million people are malnourished. Picture taken June 21, 2012. To match Interview YEMEN-HUNGER/ REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY POVERTY) - RTR353KI — A family with a malnourished child is pictured in their home in Sanaa June 21, 2012. (Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi)

A doctor holds a malnourished boy as his mother sits at a therapeutic feeding centre in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz June 30, 2012. One million Yemeni children face severe malnutrition within months as families struggle to pay for food in one of the Arab world's poorest countries, the U.N. World Food Programme has warned. Political turmoil has pushed Yemen to the brink of a humanitarian crisis and aid agencies estimate half the country's 24 million people are malnourished. Picture taken June 30, 2012. To match Interview YEMEN-HUNGER/ REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST HEALTH SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR35333 — A doctor holds a malnourished boy as his mother sits at a therapeutic feeding centre in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz June 30, 2012. (Reuters /Khaled Abdullah)

Hostilities have escalated between forces loyal to former president Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was driven into exile last February, and those of Shiite Houthi rebels loyal to a party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since March 2015, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Gulf Arab states has launched airstrikes on Houthi targets at Hadi’s request. More than 10,0000 civilians have been killed and wounded since then, according to the United Nations.

Air strikes and a Saudi imposed naval, land and air blockade on Yemen, which imports over 90% of its staple foods, have caused food prices to soar, making it impossible for Yemenis to afford food to feed themselves and their families. According to recent figures from the United Nations, more than 14 million Yemenis (about half of the country’s population) are going hungry and urgently need food and medication.

A doctor attends to a newborn baby in a special care unit at a hospital in Yemen's capital Sanaa May 7, 2015. A shortage of fuel has crippled hospitals and food supplies in recent weeks in Yemen, and the U.N.'s World Food Programme has said its fuel needs have leapt from 40,000 litres a month to 1 million litres. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1BYBV — A doctor attends to a newborn baby in a special care unit at a hospital in Yemen’s capital Sanaa May 7, 2015. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah )

A woman holds her malnourished daughter at a hospital in Yemen's capital Sanaa July 28, 2015. The war in Yemen has killed more than 3,500 people. U.N. children's agency UNICEF says the death toll includes 365 children. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1M3KK — A woman holds her malnourished daughter at a hospital in Yemen’s capital Sanaa July 28, 2015. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

The food crisis is particularly harsh for children – at least 370,000 suffer from severe malnutrition. “We’re talking about a 50% increase compared to the number we had earlier this year,” Mohammed al-Asaadi, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency in Yemen told Al Jazeera. Acute malnutrition, as evidenced in the frail children recorded in these photographs, has become a major cause of death for children under five in the country.

Ali Mohammed al-Tawaari, a six-month-old malnourished boy, cries as he is weighed in a malnutrition intensive care unit in Sanaa, Yemen July 30, 2015. Born just before the outbreak of Yemen's devastating war, Ali Mohammed al-Tawaari may well not survive it. Damaged by a lack of skilled medical care at a critical moment in his early weeks, the six-month-old infant struggles for life in a hospital in the bomb-damaged capital Sanaa. Ali suffers malnourishment and complications from a botched circumcision performed by an unqualified practitioner. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYSEARCH "ABDULLAH MALNOURISHED" FOR ALL PICTURES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1MLFF — Ali Mohammed al-Tawaari, a six-month-old malnourished boy, cries as he is weighed in a malnutrition intensive care unit in Sanaa, Yemen July 30, 2015. Ali suffers from malnourishment and complications from a botched circumcision performed by an unqualified practitioner. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

Two-year-old Hanadi Dawod cries as she is weighed to check for acute severe malnutrition in a malnutrition intensive care unit in Sanaa, Yemen July 30, 2015. Damaged by a lack of skilled medical care at a critical moment, many infants struggle for life in a hospital in the bomb-damaged capital Sanaa. When Yemen's devastating war began in March, between the country's Houthi movement and an exiled government backed by Gulf Arab states, hundreds of foreign, mostly Asian, medical staff members, were evacuated to their countries, leaving their jobs in Yemeni hospitals. REUTERS/Khaled AbdullahSEARCH "ABDULLAH MALNOURISHED" FOR ALL PICTURES - RTX1MLFW — Two-year-old Hanadi Dawod cries as she is weighed to check for acute severe malnutrition in a malnutrition intensive care unit in Sanaa, Yemen July 30, 2015. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

A malnourished boy cries as he sits on a bed at a malnutrition intensive care unit in Yemen's capital Sanaa February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX26CO2 — A malnourished boy cries as he sits on a bed at a malnutrition intensive care unit in Yemen’s capital Sanaa February 10, 2016. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

Peace has been elusive. Last month, talks backed by the United Nations ended without an agreement after Houthi rebels and the party of Saleh announced the formation of new governing body to run the country. Airstrikes have often targeted civilian areas and on Sept. 12, an airstrike on a water well in Northern Yemen on the eve of the Eid al-Adha, reportedly killed 30 and wounded 17, including children and first responders. The US is complicit in the conflict, according to an editorial in The New York Times in August 2016, because it sells arms to Saudi Arabia.