By Lieke Kuiper
In 2011, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, a regime change in Yemen was demanded. While transitioning power from president Saleh to his deputy Hadi was supposed to bring stability and more freedom, it resulted in a long-lasting civil war.
In a country that is roughly 50/50 divided between Sunni and Shia Muslims, half the country was happy and half was not. The Houthi rebels, who are Shia, rebelled and took over the capital Sanaa in 2015. When they attempted to take over the entire country Sunni Saudi-Arabia helped Hadi’s government fight back. Shia Iran, on the other hand supported the Houthi rebels, leading to a military stalemate leaving civilians in a war-torn country.
Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, could not deal with a long-lasting civil war. Food supply, health care and schooling all have been destroyed by the war. By now, roughly 80% of the Yemeni population relies on humanitarian aid or protection. Of these millions of people, there are over 12 million children who are in severe need of food or other humanitarian aid. Delivering humanitarian aid, however, is actively obstructed by the warring parties according to UN workers.
The economy of Yemen has also collapsed, making food 500% more expensive than before the war. Leading to millions of people facing famine. Apart from hunger, bombings and other types of violence are also an important cause of civilian deaths. Save The Children estimates that 37 Yemeni children are killed or severely injured by bombs each month. This means that in the past 5 years, 2.220 children were killed or injured in a war for power between Saudi-Arabia and Iran.
To make matters worse, Covid-19 has also arrived in Yemen. In a country with barely functioning healthcare or hygiene supplies, this means yet another crisis. While there are only around 1700 confirmed cases and almost 500 deaths, it is estimated that the real numbers are much higher. The Corona crisis has made the hunger in Yemen even worse. Critics have pointed out that the world is talking about extensive aid packages for wealthy economies, while 94% of Yemeni families indicate food is their top concern.
War, hunger and diseases such as Cholera and Covid-19 are not all that Yemeni people face. Climate change and extreme weather conditions are also occurring more and more. Floods and a plague of desert locusts have occurred in the past years.
That the world is preoccupied with the global Corona crisis is understandable and necessary. However, even before this crisis there was hardly any attention for all the crises in Yemen. It is thus important that the world starts caring. People in Yemen need food, housing, health care and a solution to the ongoing war.
There is light at the end of the tunnel if the world acts now. Both fighting parties have agreed to implement a ceasefire this June. This makes it easier for humanitarian aid workers to deliver much needed food and health care. With more media attention and pressure on governments or the UN to keep trying to rebuild the country combined with pressure on Saudi-Arabia and Iran to respect the ceasefire, these recent developments might thus, despite all the hardship Yemen has suffered, mark the beginning of the end of the ongoing crises.
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