UN: 720 cholera deaths in Yemen since March

The death toll from cholera in Yemen has risen to 720 people since last March, while women and girls make up 53 percent of the cases, according to the United Nations.

"Cholera continues to spread in Yemen, with more than 203,000 suspected cases reported since March," Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya said during a UN Security Council session in New York.

She added that during the same period, "more than 720 people lost their lives due to cholera, and women and girls constituted 53 percent of the cases."

On August 27, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that 668 people had died of cholera in Yemen since the beginning of 2024, in addition to more than 172,000 suspected cases of the disease.

On the humanitarian situation in Yemen, Msuya said: “We are very concerned about the implications of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen due to the rapidly deteriorating situation across the Middle East.

“We are deeply troubled by the ongoing attacks from and against Yemen, which have damaged vital infrastructure, including energy infrastructure and ports in Hodeidah and Ras Issa,” he added.

She pointed out that against the backdrop of regional escalation, the humanitarian situation in Yemen continued to deteriorate, both in terms of scale and severity, and hunger continued to increase.

The humanitarian appeal for Yemen has received 41 percent of its total funding, Msuya said, adding, “However, critical response sectors urgently need additional funding. The food security sector urgently needs an additional $870 million.”

She warned that without this, nine million people across Yemen are expected not to receive emergency food assistance in the last quarter of 2024. She also stressed that long-term funding for gender-based violence programmes is a critical requirement.

She added that this sector remains chronically underfunded, with profound and lasting impacts on the safety, dignity and mental health of women and girls.

The UN official said that Yemenis' hopes for a brighter future - like many in the Middle East - "are overshadowed by a potentially catastrophic regional conflagration," adding that "the only way out of this impasse is to redouble efforts to achieve sustainable peace."