Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N. humanitarian chief in Yemen, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that poverty and disease are visibly spreading amid the havoc of war.

People in Yemen are "dying unnecessary, preventable deaths in quiet corners of villages," he said in an interview in the Jordanian capital of Amman, after a recent trip to Yemen.

"It's going to be a very sad year for Yemen," he said, noting that the U.N.'s $2 billion aid program for Yemen for this year is less than 20 percent funded.

He said worse is yet to come unless more aid is delivered and the fighting stops.

In a separate statement, the regional director of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said 55,200 cases of cholera were reported in Yemen in the past four weeks.

"More and more children die every day in Yemen from preventable causes like malnutrition and cholera," said Geert Cappelaere. "Time is running out."

"Anyone with a heart for children cannot let the situation in Yemen continue," he said.