Five million Yemenis 'one step away from famine', warns UN

Five million Yemenis are "one step away from famine", the United Nations outgoing special envoy to the country has warned, adding that a record 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

"Famine is not just a food problem, it's a symptom of a much deeper collapse," Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, told the UN Security Council.

"It is all of Yemen's problems rolled into one, and it demands a comprehensive response," he said.

Security Council delegates are calling on an urgent ceasefire in Yemen to give humanitarian aid workers access to the country. "War overshadows everything," said Martin Griffiths, during a brief to the UN.

The fighting in Maarib province has caused the deaths of thousands of civilians, prompting humanitarian organisations to condemn the violence and call for immediate humanitarian aid.

Some 15 million people are in need of access to safe water and sanitation, while preventable diseases are spreading among the population due to a breakdown of public services, including cholera and Covid-19.

Additionally, the prolonged economic crash has thrust 80 percent of civilians below the poverty line, according to aid groups.

Five million people are one step away from famine and incomes are fast disappearing, particularly salaries for civil servants who make up one-quarter of the population. This is in part due to the crash of the Yemeni currency with Yemen relying on imported goods.

In all the maelstrom, children are the worst hit.

"Being a child in Yemen is the stuff of nightmares," said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund. Some 2.6 million children are now internally displaced.

Yemen is divided between the internationally recognised government based in the south and the Houthi rebels that hold most of the north and the country's main urban centres.

The Saudi-backed government, which is struggling to pay public sector wages, has resorted to printing money to cover the deficit.

Sea and air restrictions imposed by the coalition on Houthi-held areas, including the country's main port of Hodeidah, have hampered the import of fuel and other goods.