Cairo, 4 August 2018 – We are extremely shocked by the attack on Yemen’s largest hospital in Hodeidah. Al-Thawra hospital serves as a major neonatal care facility with some 400 deliveries taking place there every month, including 200 caesarian sections. UNFPA supports the Al Thawra Hospital with essential reproductive health supplies, life-saving medicines and incentives for health staff performing normal deliveries and caesarian sections.

As the UN agency promoting reproductive health, UNFPA deplores attacks on health facilities and personnel, in particular, facilities where women and young girls seek help. Targeting medical facilities is strictly forbidden under humanitarian law, as it serves no purpose other than depriving people, in particular women and girls, from much needed life-saving services.

UNFPA estimates that there are 90,000 pregnant women inside Hodeidah with 14,000 of them risking complications during childbirth, requiring emergency care that could only be available at the Al Tharwa Hospital.