Amal Hussain is a 7-year-old Yemeni girl with a haunting gaze whose image sits atop our latest report from Yemen, a country plunged into war and on the brink of a catastrophic famine.

Amal is skin and bones, and her head is turned away, as if she cannot bear to meet the eyes of those looking at her.

Some readers may feel they want to look away, too. And if experience is any guide, some are going to demand to know why we are asking them to look at all.

But we are asking you to look — and not just at Amal, but also at Shaher al-Hajaji, a scarred 3-year-old boy in the grip of malnutrition, and at Bassam Mohammed Hassan, an emaciated, listless young boy with an empty look in his eyes.