A new United Nations report released on Tuesday has projected that the death toll from Yemen's war will reach 377,000 by the end of 2021, including those killed as a result of indirect and direct causes.
In a report published on Tuesday, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimated that 70 percent of those killed would be children under the age of five.
The UNDP found that 60 percent of deaths would have been the result of indirect causes, such as hunger and preventable diseases, with the remainder a result of direct causes like front-line combat and air raids.
"In the case of Yemen, we believe that the number of people who have actually died as a consequence on conflict exceeds the numbers who died in battlefield," said the UNDP Administrator Achim.
The situation in the country has been described by the UN as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. At least 15.6 million people are living in extreme poverty.
It said some 1.3 million people would die by 2030, and that 70 percent of those deaths would be the result of indirect causes such as loss of livelihoods, rising food prices, and the deterioration of basic services such as health and education.
The report also found that the number of those experiencing malnutrition would surge to 9.2 million by 2030, and the number of people living in extreme poverty would reach 22 million, or 65 percent of the population.
10,000 children killed or wounded in Yemen's war
At least 10,000 children have been killed or injured in Yemen in violence linked to years of war in the impoverished country, the United Nations children's agency said last month.
"The Yemen conflict has just hit another shameful milestone: 10,000 children have been killed or maimed since fighting started in March 2015. That's the equivalent of four children every day," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told a UN briefing in Geneva.
The figure only included child victims whose fates were known to the organization and there were countless others, Elder sai, adding that the verified tally collected by the UN provided what is surely an undercount of the real toll because many more child deaths and injuries go unrecorded.
"UNICEF urgently needs more than $235m to continue its life-saving work in Yemen till mid-2022. Otherwise, the agency will be forced to scale down or stop its vital assistance for vulnerable children. Funding is critical. We can draw a clear line between donor support and lives saved. But even with increased support, the war must come to an end," Elder said, adding in addition, "400,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition. More than two million children are out-of-school. Another four million are at risk of dropping out."
Marib Governorate
Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency, in separate comments Tuesday, said it is "gravely concerned about the safety and security of civilians in Yemen's Marib governorate, including more than one million people who are estimated to be displaced".
Some 40,000 people have been forced to flee in Marib since September, said UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo in Geneva.
"Health conditions such as acute watery diarrhea, malaria and upper respiratory tract infections are common among the newly displaced," she said.
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