More than 1.6 million children in Yemen's Taiz governorate risk losing access to water as fuel shortages due to fighting threaten critical services as the Houthi militia's siege of the city continues, UN agencies warned.
UNICEF representative in Yemen Akhil Iyer told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that fighting disrupted critical supply routes, putting water systems serving an estimated 3 million people, including at least 1.6 million children, at risk.
"Diesel shortages threaten to bring water pumps to a halt, while the cost of trucked water has tripled since this latest escalation," Iyer said.
He said more than 168,000 children had been screened for malnutrition in Taiz this year, with over 52,000 found to be acutely malnourished, nearly one in three screened.
"For children in Taiz, hunger, unsafe water and disease are becoming an increasingly dangerous combination," he warned.
UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said displacement across Yemen exceeded 250,000 people as of October 17, up from nearly 213,000 previously reported.
Taiz accounted for 76 percent of departures and hosted 52 percent of newly displaced people, he told reporters in Geneva.
According to UNHCR, shelter was the most frequently cited need among newly displaced families, followed by food and cash assistance.
The agency said it assessed 12,283 displaced households across Abyan, Aden, Marib, Lahj and Taiz, including some 2,050 households without shelter.
Last week, the Yemeni government called on the UN and its Security Council to take urgent steps to lift the Houthi siege of the southwestern city of Taiz, warning of severe humanitarian consequences from the Houthi militia’s escalation.
Critical shortages
World Health Organisation spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic warned that 12 hospitals in Taiz have about four days of fuel left, while supplies of 115 of 127 essential medicines are sufficient for about one week or less.
The agency said Yemen's humanitarian and health crisis was escalating rapidly, with Taiz's health system at "critical risk".
Jasarevic said 1,110 dialysis patients, 192 intensive care patients and 154 newborns in incubators depended on uninterrupted hospital services.
Weekly suspected cholera cases also surged from 221 to 683 between epidemiological weeks 36 and 40, according to the World Health Organization.
Jasarevic said only $3.8 million of the $31 million required for a 90-day emergency response had been secured, leaving a funding gap of $27.2 million.
UN agencies urged all parties to protect civilians, safeguard water and health facilities, and ensure safe humanitarian access to prevent further deterioration.
