聯合國人道官員警告,也門距離饑荒一步之遙

The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Monday that war-torn Yemen is “one step away from famine.”

Stephen O'Brien told the U.N. Security Council that more than 21 million Yemenis – 80 percent of the population – are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.

O'Brien gave the briefing by telephone from Bahrain, where he has arrived for a 10-day visit that also will include Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He traveled to Yemen earlier this month.

“Over 2 million people are malnourished nationwide, including 370,000 children who are severely malnourished,” O'Brien said. That is an increase of 65 percent compared to the year before the conflict began.

Food prices have surged 20 percent since fighting began last year, and a Saudi-imposed blockade has impaired food deliveries to a country that pre-conflict imported 90 percent of its food stocks.

Worryingly, cholera is starting to appear, with 61 confirmed cases and 1,700 suspected cases. O'Brien said the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are establishing 21 cholera treatment centers, but that they would be insufficient to stop the escalating spread of the disease. Additionally, the humanitarian chief said more than 10,000 children under the age of five have died from preventable diseases.

The U.N. has classified Yemen as a level three emergency – Syria and Iraq are the only other two humanitarian crises rated this severe.聯合國人道救援事務負責人星期一警告說，飽受戰火摧殘的也門“距離饑荒只有一步之遙”。

奧布賴恩告訴聯合國安理會說，也門2千1百多萬人需要某種形式的人道援助，相當於也門人口總數的百分之80。

奧布賴恩是從巴林通過電話向安理會介紹的上述情況，目前他正在該地區對科威特，卡塔爾和阿聯酋進行10天訪問。10月早些時候他訪問了也門。

奧布賴恩說：“也門全國有超過兩百萬人營養不良，包括37萬兒童嚴重營養不良。”這一數字比衝突開始前上升了65%。

自去年衝突開始以來，也門食品價格上漲了20%，沙特實施的封鎖使食品難以運送到也門這個90%的食品依靠進口的國家。

令人擔心的霍亂病開始出現，已有61起被證實病例，還有1千7百個疑似病例。奧布賴恩說，聯合國與人道合作伙伴要建立21個霍亂治療中心，但是可能仍不足以制止疾病的蔓延。他還說，也門有1萬多名5歲以下兒童死於可以預防的疾病。

聯合國將也門列爲三級緊急人道危機國，其他兩個被列爲三級緊急人道危機國家是敘利亞和伊拉克。