Thu 05 September 2019:
On Wednesday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced having to close 175 health facilities in Yemen in September due to lack of funding.
In September, UNFPA will be forced to close 175 (65 per cent) out of 268 health facilities in Yemen, which the Fund is currently supporting by offering reproductive health services, according to a tweet the UNFPA posted on Twitter.
The Fund added that this posed a direct threat to more than one million pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers in need of immediate treatment due to acute malnutrition and deteriorating medical assistance. It also stressed the need for financial pledges by donors to save lives.
By September 2019, #UNFPA is forced to close 175 of 268 health facilities in #Yemen it currently supports with reproductive health services. This poses a direct threat to more than one million pregnant and lactating women ? #PledgePaidLivesSaved pic.twitter.com/D6pWpLFWWk
— UNFPA Yemen (@UNFPAYemen) September 4, 2019
UN agencies working in Yemen have already complained about the lack of material funding aiming to provide humanitarian and health assistance in Yemen.
For the fifth year in a row, Yemen has been witnessing a war between pro-government forces and Houthi militants accused of being supported by Iran and in control of governorates, including the capital Sanaa, since September 2014.
Since March 2015, an Arab military coalition, led by the neighbouring country, Saudi Arabia, has been supporting government forces against the Houthis.
The battles of more than 30 fronts in Yemen took the lives of around 70,000 people since the beginning of 2016, said the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, during a briefing to the Security Council on 17 June 2019.
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