Seven years after the outbreak of the war, INTERSOS decries the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen – where more than 2 out of 3 Yemenis need humanitarian assistance today – while the world governments are reducing their funding commitments pledged at the Yemen High Level Pledging Event in Geneva on 17 March
The war in Ukraine should not detract the attention from other humanitarian crises. We are approaching a tragic anniversary of 7 years since the start of the war in Yemen. Unfortunately, despite massive humanitarian efforts, Yemen remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today: there are now 23.4 million of people in need of humanitarian assistance, compared to the 20.7 million from last year.
The entire population in recent years has been subjected to direct and indirect consequences of the conflict, deepened by the growing social, economic and financial crisis. The recent intensification of fighting, which resulted in appalling deaths, suffering and destruction of civilian infrastructure, have further pushed the country into humanitarian disaster. Today, more than 80% of Yemenis live below the poverty line and thousands of people are living on the brink of famine.
Food insecurity in Yemen
Food insecurity and malnutrition have increased further in the first months of 2022: there are now more than 17 million people in need of assistance, and this is expected to rise to 19 million by June. Among these people – according to IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) data – 31,000 are in conditions of extreme hunger, and by June it is estimated that this number will likely increase to 161,000. Forecasts also indicate that by the end of 2022, 2.2 million children and 1.3 million pregnant and lactating women will suffer from acute malnutrition. Additionally, health problems and epidemics, including cholera, dengue fever, diphtheria and measles, floods, global isolation and the COVID-19 pandemic further aggravate the country’s vulnerability.
“Together with other organizations working in Yemen, we are concerned about the worsening of the crisis and about the fact that, despite this, world leaders have pledged about $1.3 billion in aid against the total requirement of $4.27 billion to provide life-saving assistance to the population”, explains Miro Modrusan, Geneva Representative & Policy Advisor at INTERSOS. “The sustained humanitarian action by the UN, Red Cross and NGOs is essential for ensuring life-saving support to the population”, continues Modrusan. “We call on the international community not to allow the tragic conflict in Yemen and not to abandon women, girls and boys, and other vulnerable groups, and step up its commitment to humanitarian assistance in Yemen”.
INTERSOS’ intervention in Yemen
INTERSOS has been providing assistance to the most vulnerable people both in southern and northern governorates since 2008. Our intervention guarantees health and nutritional assistance for conflict affected population, with a focus on women and children, through support of 27 health facilities and 6 mobile clinic teams. Over 480,000 individuals benefitted from INTERSOS health and nutrition services in 2021. In addition, protection assistance, including psychosocial and legal support is provided by the staff of 9 community centres located in urban areas and 9 mobile protection teams, able to reach the most the most vulnerable population in more remote and hard to reach locaitons: in 2021 alone, 450.000 people were assisted with emergency protection services.
Furthermore, and in response to COVID-19 pandemic, INTERSOS is active in the COVAX vaccination campaign, supporting the direct delivery of vaccines through the management of two vaccination centres in the governorate of Lahj, in the southern part of the country. By the end of February 2022, our staff had been able to vaccinate about 5,700 people, reaching over 11,600 individuals with awareness messages on the importance of vaccination.