[JURIST] United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Valarie Amos [official profile] issued a statement on Friday expressing the concern of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) [official website] for the safety of civilians in Yemen. Amos referred to humanitarian reports, which indicate that over the past two weeks 519 people have been killed and 1,700 others have been injured, at least 90 of which were children. Yemeni hospitals are in short supply of necessary medicines, and citizens have begun to flee from their homes to seek relief in Djibouti and Somalia. Amos called on all parties involved in the conflict in Yemen to “meet their obligations under international law and do their utmost to protect the ordinary women, children and men who are suffering the consequences of the conflict.” UN agencies are currently working closely with Yemen Red Crescent and the local Yemen authorities to supply citizens with emergency health kits, which allow for clean water, food and blankets.

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen [JURIST news archive] has sparked major international concern. Human Rights Watch and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official websites] have each recently expressed concern [JURIST report] for civilian lives as Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen have continued.
Last week during an emergency meeting, the UN special envoy to Yemen warned [JURIST report] the UN security Council that the situation in Yemen is teetering on the brink of civil war. In February UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged [JURIST report] Yemen to reinstate President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.