Yemen Is Going Through The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

24 million. That is 80% of the population of Yemen who are in need of help, half of which are children.

Yemen is currently facing the largest and worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The crisis began in 2011 when a failure in the transition of power between presidents created an Arab Spring uprise. The new president, former deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, was placed in a difficult situation. Corruption, jihadist attacks, a separatist movement in the south, unemployment, and food insecurity all hindered his ability to serve. Many people were still loyal to the old president. This made things even harder for Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

By 2015 things got even worse and Mr. Hadi had to flee abroad to Saudi Arabia. In 2017, food and fuel prices increased considerably, leading to more food shortages.

Today, a large civil war in Yemen is still occurring.

Now, there is an emergency upon emergency. COVID-19 is escalating everything further.

Yemen is in shortage of many essential supplies, including sanitation supplies and clean water. It is unrealistic to think of them having access PPE or ventilators during a pandemic, when they barely have access to the regular healthcare. To make things worse, many of the doctors who are working aren’t getting paid. They cannot provide necessary services to the citizens of Yemen.

In 2019, there were more than 23,000 fatalities. Many of these deaths were from preventible causes including malnutrition, diseases, and poor health. As of March 2020, there were at least 7,700 verified civilian deaths, but it is believed that the death toll is actually much higher.

Even with these high death tolls, it is likely that the coronavirus pandemic could kill even more people than the war, disease, and hunger combined did in the past 5 years.

They need help – financially and through health services.

You can help by:

Calling congress at (202)224-3121 and insisting that they use its military support to push for a peace agreement to end the war.

If you don’t want to call, sign petitions.

Make donation to organizations such as UNICEF, Project Hope, and Doctors Without Borders.

 

9 years of hunger. Of fighting. Of dying. When will it end?