“The World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis” By Sasha Bekirova

The war in Yemen is now known as the largest humanitarian crisis in the world and the UN has called the needs unprecedented. Yemen has been devastated by a civil war since 2015 and it’s become a huge regional conflict regarding the security of several neighboring countries. The conflict began with the Arab Spring of 2011, a series of protests and armed rebellions against Arab authoritative governments: Yemeni former President Saleh, who ruled for 33 years, left office in 2012, leaving power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. 

 

The main participants are Loyalists of President Hadi, the Houthis, and Al-Qaeda: 

– The current internationally recognized government under President Hadi is backed by Saudi Arabia. 

– The Houthi rebels, a Shia Muslim minority, are backed by the United Arab Emirates coalition known as the Southern Transitional Council (STC). 

– Al-Qaeda has also taken advantage of the lack of a centralized government. 

 

Since 2012, Hadi has struggled in dealing with attacks from jihadists, a separatist movement in the south, and the continuing loyalty of government officials to former ruler Saleh. In 2015, the Houthis, who rebelled against the previous authoritarian government under Saleh, seized the northern province and the capital of Sanaa in a coup. As a result, Hadi was forced to flee the country due to direct threats to his safety and still resides in Saudi Arabia where he struggles to display a secure temporary government. Other groups sought power over other provinces (mainly Al-Qaeda), and when the Shias backed by Iran rose to power, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at defeating the Houthis and restoring Hadi’s power. For 4 years there had been a military stalemate, meaning that both sides were in a deadlock with no resolutions in sight, both claiming they are the legitimate government and allowing the inhumane war to go on. In July of 2019, the UN sponsored the Stockholm Agreement where prisoners were released and there was relative peace due to a ceasefire (1). However in January of 2020, fighting and airstrikes between Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthi supported separatist movement (including the STC) escalated in the south. The STC declared self-rule despite Hadi’s government being internationally recognized, and despite the coronavirus outbreak, the two sides continued to fight after the STC rejected Saudi Arabia’s offer for another ceasefire.

 

The United Nations has warned that the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could “exceed the combined toll of war, disease, and hunger over the last five years” and estimates that $4 billion is needed to supply humanitarian aid to Yemen (2). Here are the numbers:

– 24.1 million people, more than two thirds of the population, need some kind of humanitarian support or protection, while 14.3 million need aid to sustain their lives (3).

– 20 million people are food insecure, a 13% increase from last year. 9.6 million are nearing famine, a 14% increase since last year. And for the first time in history, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network classified that 238,000 individuals are in Phase 5 of Catastrophe where they are facing catastrophic levels of hunger and are barely surviving. In addition, two thirds of all districts in the country are pre-famine (4).

– 4.3 million people have fled their homes since the start of the conflict, including approximately 3.3 million people who remain displaced (5).

– Only 51% of health centers remain fully functional and medicine and equipment are limited. There is no safe water, and therefore a lack of proper sanitation with increased communicable diseases, while women and children are disproportionately affected by the near complete collapse of health services. Medics have also struggled to deal with the largest cholera outbreak ever recorded, which has resulted in more than 2.2 million suspected cases and 3,895 related deaths since October 2016 (6).

– Food prices are now nearly 150% higher than before the conflict in 2015 (7).

– Fuel prices rose by 200% in 2018 compared to pre-crisis prices, impacting agriculture, water supply, transport, electricity, health and sanitation services (8).

– About two million children are out of school, with girls more likely to lose out on education (36% of girls out of school compared to 24% of boys). An estimated 2000 schools are currently unfit for use due to conflict-related damage or occupation by armed groups. And now as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 7.8 million are unable to access education (9).

 

Now here’s how you can help: the most important thing that you can do is spread the word to increase media awareness. Stay up-to-date on this story from international health care and humanitarian relief organizations like UNICEF, Project Hope, Doctors without Borders, Islamic Relief USA, the International Rescue Committee, and Save the Children to prevent this story from circulating out. Yemen needs our help. 

 

This post was written by Sasha Bekirova

 

(1) “Yemen crisis: Why is there a war?” BBC News. June 19, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423 

(2) “Crisis in Yemen: How to Help.” Project Hope. https://www.projecthope.org/crisis-in-yemen/09/2019/ 

(3) “Crisis Overview.” OCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. https://www.unocha.org/yemen/crisis-overview

(4) Ibid.

(5) Ibid.

(6) Ibid.

(7) Ibid.

(8) Ibid.

(9) “Yemen Crisis.” UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis 

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