Details of the Situation in Yemen Because of War: Report

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Official Yemen’s Saba News Agency published a report on the situation in Yemen, the report explained how  Yemen is now the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22 million people — three-quarters of the population — in desperate need of aid and protection.

More than 20 million people in Yemen are in need of aid ,the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is assisting newly displaced with among other things food assistance and access to clean water.

As the conflict enters its fourth year, millions are without access to clean drinking water and the country is at high risk of a cholera epidemic, Guterre said at a donor conference in Geneva.

UNICEF continues to enhance its resource mobilization for the incentives of more than 143,000 teachers who have not been paid for over two years, in order to continue education in north Yemen, With the new school year set to start in September, 3.7 million children may be at risk of missing out on a new school year.

Child casualties have increased by more than 70 per cent in Taizz, Sadaa and Hajjah: the UN Country Task Force documented and verified the killing of 21 children (13 boys; 8 girls) and the maiming of 82 children (51 boys; 31 girls), as well as four attacks on schools and one attack on a hospital.
The verified cases took place mainly in Taizz, Sa’ada, Al Hudaydah and Hajjah.

The port city of Hodeidah in Yemen has for the last months been subject to heavy fighting with severe consequences for the civilian population and large displacement, according to the UN, nearly 470,000 people have fled Hodeidah Governorate since early June – in a country where millions already are displaced and 75 percent of the populations are dependent on humanitarian aid.

“The front line around Hodeidah changes constantly, we’ve met displaced persons who’ve fled fighting close to the front line, they now live in makeshift tent sites, unfinished buildings and collective shelters, often more families share one room or building, the needs are huge – and that is one of the reasons why DRC is scaling up in Yemen,” says DRC Head of Emergency, Christian Gad – who spent the one week in Yemen.

The sheer numbers speak for themselves. More than 22 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, 17.8 million are food insecure and 8.4 million don’t know where to get their next meal from, during 2018, DRC has scaled up emergency capacity to respond to what the UN has labeled as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“The situation in Yemen comprises all one can imagine in a humanitarian catastrophe, IDPs, returnees, food scarcity, diseases such as cholera and ongoing fighting, it’s a lot to balance and we do everything we can to save lives and scale up the emergency operation, but people in Yemen are fighting everyday against hunger, cholera and targeted airstrikes. I’ve never seen such suffering on such a huge scale,” says DRC Country Director, Audrey Crawford.

Many places and many civilians in Yemen have been hit by airstrikes, including schools and hospitals, causing great fear and not least serious damage for the civilian population, it means that thousands of civilians, among those thousands of children have been killed and injured due to these target airstrikes.

“We assist children who have been maimed following airstrikes; children who’ve lost a limb from stepping on a landmine or struck by missiles, we provide assistance with the immediate treatment, but also necessary equipment to help them to readapt to their lives afterwards – and ideally with getting back to school, one of the most recent tragic events was to assist the child survivors of the bus bombing a month ago in Sa’ada,” says Audrey Crawford.

“The humanitarian assistance we provide is a critical stopgap, but this situation for the Yemeni people will only end with a commitment from parties to the conflict to engage in an inclusive political process. Peace in Yemen is the only way forward. Every day we witness the devastating impact of the conflict on the lives of ordinary people, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation – this must stop now,” says Audrey Crawford.

Audrey Crawford, DRC’s Country Director in Yemen says: “We are equally worried about the likely closure of the port of Hodeidah, through which 70% of supplies are shipped, with rates of malnutrition and disease running high, the port is a vital lifeline for millions of Yemenis who are dependent on aid.”

The recent attacks on water systems have caused reduced access to safe drinking water, combined with other factors such as the onset of heavy rainfall and a relatively high number of people, 10 million, living in prioritized Cholera districts , concern for a third wave of cholera epidemic. This concern coincides with a significant increase in lab-confirmed cholera cases which have been reported since the beginning of July; a total of 115 confirmed cases.

Yemen currently has the greatest level of humanitarian needs in the world. Since armed conflict erupted in March 2015, 22.2 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance among which 11.3 million are in acute need of immediate assistance to save or sustain life, mostly women and children.

The conflict has resulted in over 10,000 deaths and two million people displaced, looking for shelter from disease and violence, yemenis are struggling to survive as fuel, food and medical supplies are critically low due to the closure of land, sea and air routes. Just 14% of national fuel requirements have arrived in country since the end of March putting 10 million people at risk of losing access to water, over 12 million people are going hungry as wheat and other staples are in increasingly short supply, more than 15 million are without access to health care as most hospitals have shut down due to lack of medical supplies and power cuts.
In addition to constant threat from violence and conflict, an aggressive strain of cholera has broken out, with 1,035,676 suspected cases with 2,224 associated deaths registered since April 2017. Children are particularly vulnerable, as their small systems and malnourished bodies cannot fight the disease.

The United Nations and other NGOs in Yemen have demanded the airport in Sana’a be reopened, as other foreign militaries have restricted food and medicine from being delivered, literally starving out innocent Yemenis.
Price and availability of food and fuel further worsened in December 2017 mainly due to the blockade and escalated conflicts and airstrikes. Although the blockade has been partially lifted, it still partially remains and is still resulting in rising prices and reduced access to food and basic commodities. Sustained commercial access at scale is critical, with exchange rates and inflation fluctuating wildly.

The Yemeni rial declined by over 17 percent during a week-long period towards the end of August, resulting in sudden price increases in basic foodstuffs and triggering widespread protests in southern Yemen.

OCHA’s 6 September situation report on Yemen noted that if the depreciation of the Yemeni rial continues, a further 3.5 million people may become food insecure and an additional 2 million may face a heightened risk of famine, adding to the 8.4 million people already considered at risk.

Save the Children released a statement warning that a disruption of food supplies through Hodeidah and the collapsing economy could push an additional one million children to the brink of starvation.
Guterres said over 8 million people in the country “did not know where they will obtain their next meal, and that “every ten minutes, a child under five dies of preventable causes.”

With many struggling to support their families, child marriage rates have also risen. “Nearly two-thirds of girls are married before the age of 18, and many before they are 15,” he said.
More than half of the required funds needed for the UN’s humanitarian response plan — $2.96 billion — have not been met, Guterres told the conference.

The report written by Mona Zaid.