Statement by Dr. Luay Shabaneh, UNFPA’s Director for the Arab region, in response to the recent attacks on hospitals in Sa’ada and Taizz, Yemen

Cairo, 28 March 2019 - We are dismayed about the latest escalation of violence in Yemen, most recently the deadly incidence near the Kitaf rural hospital in Sa’ada governorate and the closure of key public hospitals in Taizz city following significant damage caused by intensified fighting.

Nearly a million pregnant women and new mothers require urgent aid in Yemen, the site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Six million women and girls of childbearing age are in need of medical support. An estimated 144,000 women are likely to develop childbirth complications.

UNFPA supports 235 health facilities in Yemen to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care, including the UNFPA supported main hospital in Mudhaffer District. UNFPA is working to ensure the provision of essential reproductive health medicines and supplies as services at these facilities cease operation.

We call on all parties to spare civilians as stipulated by international humanitarian law, which clearly prohibits the targeting of non-combatants, and to allow humanitarian access.

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