Story highlights UN Humanitarian Affairs chief continues push for urgent action

Warns of 'triple threat' to Yemenis: war, famine and disease avoidable, he says

(CNN) Blaming the "inability or indifference" of the international community, the United Nations' humanitarian chief warned that Yemen is spiraling toward "total social, economic and institutional collapse."

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Stephen O'Brien, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said the country's citizens face a "triple threat" of "armed conflict, famine, and deadly disease that has already killed, injured, displaced or otherwise affected millions and it will spare no one if it continues unchecked."

He urged the UN to ensure the safety and protection of Yemenis by ensuring that all parties in the country's civil war between the country's recognized government and Shia Houthi rebels adhere to international humanitarian and human rights laws, and that aid shipments remain unimpeded by keeping ports and land routes open to humanitarian traffic.

O'Brien said the humanitarian crisis facing the population is not unavoidable, but rather a "direct consequence of actions of the parties and supporters of the conflict."

Regional powers are fighting a proxy war in the southern Arabian peninsula country. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are supporting the central government in their fight against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have toppled the internationally recognized leadership there.

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