The decade-long internal strife and regional wars have set back Yemen’s development by several decades, left its economy in tatters and much of the population brutalised. Yemen is facing a massive humanitarian crisis and urgently needs help to meet its escalating humanitarian needs.
Nearly 50% of Yemenese are now living in extreme poverty with 31% living with malnutrition. About 1.5% of the population have lost their lives, a third of which, to combat and the remaining to diseases, starvation and lack of health services.
The war has inflicted significant damage on food production and distribution systems, while blockades, sieges and the destruction of crucial water infrastructure have made water inaccessible in a drought-prone country. Even before the conflicts started, Yemen was heavily dependent on imports for agricultural inputs and food supplies, both of which were cut-off by the embargoes on imports/exports by Houthis and other parties. The result was that, the agricultural sector of Yemen, which was already straining under the impacts of climate change was devastated and the country had no income to import food. To make things worse, in some places controlled by the Houthis, agricultural land has been marred with landmines.
Humanitarian aid was also blocked and by 2025, a decade since the conflict began, over 50% of the population is facing famine.
Public infrastructure including hospitals and healthcare facilities was deliberately destroyed leaving much of the population vulnerable to diseases while people with existing chronic illnesses and disabilities are at increased risk of ill-health from not getting timely support or continuous treatments that they need. The condition of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are especially concerning, as the food shortage and lack of healthcare puts them in danger of acute malnutrition which can be doubly dangerous as they are more likely to have malnourished children, who will face a serious risk of permanent physical and cognitive stunting.
The war has also forced millions of people to be internally displaced with no access to their homes, jobs, income or means to fend for themselves.
As with any war, all the warring sides are perpetuating violence on the population, deliberately disappearing hundreds of people, torturing and killing them or keeping them in illegal detentions. There is probably nothing left to be done on this impoverished country of the middle east.
A lot needs to be done to help Yemen recover from this man-made disaster that it is reeling under. Assuming that US and its allies will stop their attack on Yemen without any ifs and buts, the humanitarian needs of the people need to be addressed first to save the people from starving to death or children being born with debilitating disorders.
Some of the steps in this direction that I have discussed in my article, https://www.nouvocation.com/global-conflicts-under-the-radar-part-xxxvi-yemens-humanitarian-needs/ includes
1. Removing blockades on humanitarian aid, especially food and medicine
2. Ensuring that the aid reaches the people in need and is not siphoned off by “interested parties” to be sold off in the black market. Humanitarian aid to be distributed with third party overseeing, specifically excluding the warring parties to avoid the current Gaza-like situation where the starving Palestinians lining for food are being shot dead.
3. Funding to rebuild its hospitals and healthcare facilities
4. Releasing people being held in illegal detention by all parties and ensuring they receive proper justice for the atrocities committed against them and so on.
For more on this, please read my detailed article on the subject titled Global conflicts under the radar – Part XXXVI –Yemen’s humanitarian needs, which is available with half-yearly subscription.
