Henrietta Fore (R, front), Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), briefs the Security Council on the situation in Yemen, at the UN headquarters in New York, May 15, 2019. Henrietta Fore on Wednesday urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to open doors to immediate, long-term humanitarian access, and to allow days of tranquility to vaccinate and help children. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Henrietta Fore, executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), on Wednesday urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to open doors to immediate, long-term humanitarian access, and to allow days of tranquility to vaccinate and help children.
In her briefing to the Security Council, the UNICEF chief said that 7,300 children have been killed or seriously injured since the fighting in Yemen began four years ago, and the fighting still rages across 30 active conflict zones -- home to nearly 1.2 million children.
Each day, another eight children will be killed, injured or recruited to the fighting, said Fore, adding that another child will die from a preventable cause every 10 minutes.
"Like a lack of food, with 360,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In fact, half the children under five years old in Yemen -- 2.5 million -- are stunted," she said. "And stunting is irreversible."
"Like a lack of a simple vaccination, with 151 children dying of diphtheria since last August," she added.
According to Fore, the UN has verified the recruitment and use of over 3,000 children by all parties to the conflict since the conflict began. "That number is likely much higher. A flagrant and outrageous violation of international law," she said.
Although political efforts continue to focus on implementing the Agreement made at Stockholm in December 2018, Fore warned that while the ceasefire has largely held in Hodeidah, other areas are seeing a rise in violence.
"To truly shape a better future for Yemen and its children, we need your engagement and influence to end this war on children, Now," she said.
