The Republic of Yemen is a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. Since 2011. Yemen has been in a state of political crisis, which has led to a Civil War in 2012. The war has led to dramatic consequences on the population. Lack of safe drinking water which led to the spread of cholera and the huge famine affecting 17 million people are part of what has been called a “humanitarian disaster”, which has worsened the country’s already poor human rights record, characterized yet by rampant torture, extrajudicial killings, and limited civil liberties.

 

War effects on the population

Today, after years of the ongoing Civil War, the country is exhausted and more than 80% of the population has lost everything. People risk losing their lives over hunger, loss of water, cholera, and since the last months also because of Covid-19. Yemen is experiencing one of the highest mortality rates in the world. Today, over 24 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection.

Of course, in those living conditions, it is impossible to maintain the safety measures suggested by the OMS (social distancing, frequent hand sanitizing, wearing face masks, etc), since the hygienic standards of the country are weak.

 

The issue of malnutrition

As Save the Children points out, more and more children in Yemen are facing malnutrition. They observed that in some of their clinics, the number of starving children that had to receive lifesaving treatments saw an increase of 60% since the ending of 2019 and July 2020. The monthly average of undernourished children hospitalization is a clear signal of the worsening of the country’s food situation. People cannot buy food because of rising prices, which is a consequence of the ongoing conflict.

Looking at the actual situation, it is very likable that children will lose their lives all over the country if no action is taken immediately. The combination of war and hunger is lethal, pushing every day thousands of children to malnutrition.

 

Concrete Actions to Face the Crisis

Save the Children and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) are taking concrete action to face this huge problem. UNHCR has committed to providing tools to face the Pandemic of Covid-19 and cholera, to help the already fragile sanitary structures of the country; in fact, today only 50% of the Yemen hospitals and structures are working.

Save the Children, on the other hand, during 2020 has provided food to 8.783 people, among which 2.975 are children, through food distributions or monetary transfers.

In addition, they are providing to the sustainment of pregnant women and the ones who are breastfeeding, providing consultancy about the theme and health and nutrition.

Wars and famines are still a huge problem in our world, even if we are not directly experiencing them. Associations like UNHCR and Save the Children are fully committed to reaching the objective of making the lives of people from disadvantaged countries better, providing them with basic necessities like food and healthcare.

We can all make the difference: this is the biggest message those associations want to spread.

Even with small contributions, we can make the life of others easier.

Both associations provide the possibility of helping them through their websites to everybody, explaining how the contributions will be used.

Together we are stronger.