New York: UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (UNOCHA) Tom Fletcher said that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating, and children are the most in peril.

According to Qatar News Agency, Fletcher highlighted the alarming statistics during a briefing to the UN Security Council (UNSC). "The numbers say it all: Half of Yemen's children ' or 2.3 million ' are malnourished. 600,000 of them severely so," he stated, underscoring the urgency of the crisis.

Fletcher further elaborated on the dire situation, revealing that only 69 percent of children under one year of age are fully immunized, with 20 percent having received no vaccines at all, ranking among the worst rates globally. "As a result, vaccine-preventable diseases are compounding the humanitarian crisis. Cholera and measles cases are rising," he added.

The UN official provided stark figures, noting that "last year Yemen accounted for over a third of global cholera cases and 18 percent of related deaths, while also reporting one of the highest measles burdens globally."

Furthermore, Fletcher pointed out that "malnutrition also now affects 1.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, placing mothers and newborns at grave risk." He explained that overall, 9.6 million women and girls are in severe need of life-saving humanitarian support, facing hunger and a collapsing healthcare system.

In a sobering warning, Fletcher stated, "We are running out of time and resources. Yemen's 2025 humanitarian response plan is barely 9 percent funded ' less than half of what we received at the same time last year. These shortfalls have very real consequences. Nearly 400 health facilities ' including 64 hospitals ' will stop operating, impacting nearly 7 million people."