© Florian Seriex pour Action contre la Faim
Headline
a country at the end of its rope
The truce in Yemen’s vital port city of Hodeida declared in December has been extremely fragile and has not led to an improvement of the humanitarian situation on the ground. It is time for all parties of the conflict to stop the escalation of violence and work urgently towards a nationwide ceasefire.
The road to peace is long with many steps ahead, but people are suffering now.
Since the escalation of conflict in Yemen in 2015, humanitarian needs have increased drastically. Today, nearly 80% of the entire population require some form of humanitarian assistance.
Overview of the humanitarian situation
During four years, public and private civilian infrastructure have been targeted, including schools, health facilities, markets, roads, agricultural land, water systems, power sources and residential buildings. These type of attacks represent an attack over a whole population that depends on this infrastructure to survive. They have systematically prevented Yemeni people from accessing safe water, food and health care, serving to increase the risk of hunger, cholera and other infectious diseases.
The figures speak for themselves. The number of internally displaced people has reached 3.3 million. Across the country, 16 million people are in need of WASH assistance and basic health care, 50% of health facilities are shut down and more than 70% do not have regular supplies of essential medicines. About 1.25 million public servants do not receive a salary or receive it only intermittently
© Florian Seriex
Yemen has always been the poorest country in the Middle East and the levels of poverty, including malnutrition levels, were alarming before the conflict. However, the increase in household food insecurity, disease outbreaks and the collapse of the health system, along with high inflation and decline of the economy all contributed to aggravate the nutrition situation in the country.
As a result, Yemen is closer to famine than ever before. A total of 15.9 million people is severely food insecure, including 7 million malnourished people. Current estimates show that around a quarter of a million people, around 1% of the population, are living in famine-like conditions.
Our teams on the front line
As the security and safety situation continues to decline due to the protracted conflict, the living conditions for the already destitute Yemeni population deteriorate further, with families struggling daily to secure basic needs.
Action against Hunger has been implementing programmes in four governorates in Yemen, remaining at the forefront of the response to the humanitarian crisis in the country, conducting multiple interventions to manage crises such as cholera outbreaks and displacement, as well as facilitating food security and nutrition projects.
We work in approximately 60 health facilities across the country treating acute malnutrition in stabilization centres and through home-based treatments. We additionally support the provision of essential medical treatments, and support health staff in their work
Our integrated humanitarian response also covers water, sanitation and hygiene programs through rehabilitation of water points and latrines, hygiene promotions and distribution of hygiene kits. We also provide immediate support families who are extremely vulnerable especially after their displacement from their homes due to combat through distribution of cash-transfers to cover basic food needs.
Florian Seriex pour Action contre la Faim
"This crisis is a crisis of access, or rather of lack of access. Yemen's populations no longer have access to adequate health care, no longer have access to food, no longer have access to safe drinking water."
« Humanitarian workers do not have access to intervene on the scale of needs. The crisis in Yemen, beyond the words and rare images that come to us, is impacting the daily lives of men, women and children who are deprived of everything. »
Concerns have been raised by humanitarian organizations about the continued shrinkage of humanitarian space.
Administrative obstructions such as requests from authorities to share beneficiaries’ data, conditional approval of sub-agreements or intervening in the human resources or other internal procedures of humanitarian agencies are common intimidation practices affecting abilities to deliver humanitarian aid in a timely manner.
Our teams continue to face challenges in obtaining visas for international staff. In addition, various limitations are imposed on national colleagues that restrict their travel across governorates. These obstructions create delays in delivering essential and lifesaving humanitarian services.
Yemeni civilians must be allowed to access assistance quickly, safely and without conditions. For what has been described as the ‘worst humanitarian crisis of our time’, we urge the international community to support measures that protect Yemeni civilians, and pressure their allies to find a peaceful political solution to the conflict in Yemen.
“What we really hope for the people of Yemen is that the ceasefire will hold and that all parties, will stick to the terms of the agreement and make peace last.” – Véronique Andrieux, Action Against Hunger France CEO
Yemen
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