Statement of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, on the Situation in Yemen

UNITED NATIONS, New York -- UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is concerned about the effects of the total closure of air, sea and land access to Yemen on the people in the country, particularly the 2.2 million women of childbearing age, among whom some 352,000 are pregnant. Our estimates show that some 52,800 pregnant women risk complications with immediate danger to their lives if they do not get urgent life-saving maternal care and medicines.

The lack of food, poor nutrition, the unprecedented scale of the cholera outbreak and the near erosion of national health system is also making Yemen extremely dangerous for all, especially for women and girls. UNFPA calls for immediate humanitarian access to reach those in need, especially when Yemen already has one of the highest maternal death rates in the Arab world.