UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Ten million Yemenis are still reliant on emergency food assistance to survive, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock told the Security Council on Wednesday.
"The spectre of famine still looms," Lowcock said in a briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, adding that a resurgent cholera outbreak has affected already 300,000 people this year - compared to 370,000 cases in the whole of 2018.
Regarding current challenges, Lowcock said that violence rages still in many areas.
In the first quarter of the year, more than 900 civilian casualties were reported. And one of the sobering facts of the war in Yemen is that civilians killed are more likely to die in their own homes than anywhere else, he said.
Severe access restrictions imposed by the warring parties continue to be a major problem, he said, adding that more than 900,000 people were affected by delays or interruptions in assistance in February and March.
Despite all the problems, 130 agencies worked together to provide 9.8 million people with food, water, healthcare and other assistance in January and February, said Lowcock.
"A year ago, agencies estimated that 107 districts were at risk of famine. Today, the food and nutrition situation has improved in more than half of those districts, and one-fifth are as of today no longer at risk off famine," he added.
The UN humanitarian chief warned that the most immediate issue is funding. He called on all donors to fully disburse the pledges made in Geneva in February.
