UN: Yemen could face famine in 2017, over 2/3 of population in urgent need of aid

‘Yemen could face famine this year unless immediate action is taken to stop the ongoing conflict that’s led to the deaths of over 7,000 people and has left two-thirds of the nation in dire need of humanitarian aid, the UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien has warned.
“An astounding 10.3 million Yemenis … require immediate assistance to save or sustain their lives [and] at least two million people need emergency food assistance to survive,” O’Brien told the UN Security Council on Thursday. The ongoing conflict in Yemen is “the primary driver of the largest food security emergency in the world,” he added.
“If there is no immediate action, famine is now a possible scenario for 2017,”he warned. O’Brien noted that more than two thirds of the country’s population – a total of some 18.8 million Yemenis is in need of humanitarian and protection assistance.’
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