UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock on Wednesday told the Security Council that the most urgent task in Yemen today is to prevent widespread famine.
The UN humanitarian chief told the council's meeting on the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country that data released last week have confirmed again that the risk is growing, noting that malnutrition "has never been worse."
"Words like 'acutely malnourished,' 'food insecurity' and 'excess mortality' are dispassionate, neutral, technical terms that obscure the horrors inflicted by famine on the body and on the soul," he said.
Lowcock called for all efforts possible to help relieve the food shortage situation in Yemen, which has been mired in a civil war since late 2014.
"All of us - parties to the conflict, Security Council members, donors, humanitarian organizations and others - should do everything we can to stop this. Time is running out," said Lowcock.
To this end, Lowcock called for a national ceasefire, echoing the UN chief's global ceasefire call; safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access; funding for the humanitarian response; a regular supply of foreign exchange to "stave off the worst economic collapse and the famine that would follow" and efforts to make progress toward peace. Enditem
