The UN's humanitarian chief is calling on world leaders to act or face the prospect of millions of children in Yemen starving to death.

Mark Lowcock briefed the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen on 24th June. The number of suspected coronavirus cases in the country appears to be growing rapidly with international aid agencies forced to abandon critical programmes.

"COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Yemen. About 25 per cent of Yemenis confirmed to have the disease have died. That’s five times the global average.

"With the health system in collapse, we know many cases and deaths are going unrecorded. Burial prices in some areas have increased by seven times compared to a few months ago."

I told the UN Security Council today that the world faces a stark choice on #Yemen:
Support the humanitarian response in Yemen
Help to create space for a sustainable political solution
Or watch Yemen fall off the cliff. My remarks: https://t.co/GRdztZWOmA pic.twitter.com/JynEL9ipFJ

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) June 24, 2020

Lowcock has described situation as 'beyond critical'.

"The UN, NGOs and the Red Cross feeding 13 million people a month has been so important but we can only do that to the extent that we have the money."

"There is a stark choice before the world today: support the humanitarian response in Yemen and help to create the space for a sustainable political solution.

Or watch Yemen fall off the cliff."

Main image: 26/03/19. Oxfam volunteers mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the conflict in Yemen at the Famine Memorial in Dublin by highlighting how ongoing fighting and resulting food shortages has left millions of Yemeni people starving.