As the world battles COVID-19 Yemen is in dire need of help being, as described by nearly every media outlet, "World's worst humanitarian crisis". Yemen continues to fight other diseases such as polio, cholera and diphtheria. Not only Yemenis suffer in this crisis, the 135,000 refugees they host from Somalia and Ethiopia do too. In 2020 itself 172,000 people were uprooted making the country fourth in the largest number of IDPs, of which 66% live in dangerous locations with respect to food insecurity, lack of water, healthcare and sanitation services. In Yemen a child dies every ten minutes due to preventable diseases, this is also due to severely weak immune systems. In other parts of Yemen one in four children is acutely malnourished. The women not only face inequality but are also burdened to take care of their family at the young age of 18 in 20% of the cases.
Why Should you care ?
66% of people face food insecurity
66% of people face water insecurity
66% of people have poor sanitation conditions
66% of people have almost no healthcare
1/4 children are malnourished
1 Child dies every 10 minutes due to preventable Disease
Aid
Yemen is receiving aid from multiple countries and agencies but the blockade has stopped Yemen from receiving a lot of it. Small agencies such as Baitmaal and Mona are able to provide the help the Yemenis require. The volunteers provide them with meals, medical assistance and other necessary supplies. To date they have supplied more than 158,000 meals. Other agencies such as Save the children have sent training teachers to provide education to over two million children who are out of school due to them being destroyed or shut down. Countries supporting Yemen can be seen clearly in the graph:
International Aid
The UN is helping by ground delivering help such as shelter, essentials, housing supplies, cash assist and legal aid. They are also working towards treating acute malnutrition. The operating environment was extremely restricted, characterized by extensive access challenges and insecurity that hindered a principled aid operation, therefore, making it harder for the Yemenis to access the aid they were receiving. Nations such as Kuwait, UAE, USA, UK, Saudia Arab, Germany, Japan and Canada have provided monetary aid in Yemen as well.
Conclusion
Yemen is currently in urgent need of shelter, water, health services, sanitation, safety and most importantly food as 7 million people are on the brink of starvation. The International Rescue Committee is currently providing Yemen with all these resources. 66% of the population is living in horrible conditions, a war that refuses to stop. It would be an understatement to say that the Yemeni People live in austere and dire conditions, and that help at any cost must be provided. We hope that you do your part if possible by making a direct donation or by sharing the post. We salute the indomitable spirit of the people of Yemen and we wish that they soon come out of this nightmare of a situation.
~ Arushi Bhartia & Amey Parekh
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