This December, Yemen has been at war for 1,000 days. Even before the conflict began, Yemen was the poorest country in the Middle East. Now, it is a wasteland, ravaged by disease and standing on the brink of famine. Every ten minutes, a child in Yemen dies from hunger or sickness.
And to make matters worse? Another freezing winter has arrived. The cold weather will put millions more lives at risk and threaten the survival of defenceless babies, pregnant women and the elderly.
The recent blockade has also contributed to the worsening of the Yemen crisis. Life-saving necessities including food, fuel and medical supplies were prevented from entering the country, plunging vulnerable families into greater peril and allowing disease to spread. The cholera crisis in Yemen has affected 914,000 people since April, and without medicine or clean water, it will continue to take precious lives.
Essential commodities like food and water are still being restricted from reaching Yemen, causing mass shortages and hefty price increases. Vulnerable families cannot afford to pay inflated prices for basic essentials, exacerbating Yemen’s hunger crisis.
Currently, three quarters of Yemen’s population – around 22 million people – cannot survive without urgent humanitarian assistance. 17 million people don’t know where their next meal will come from. That’s 60% of the country’s population. Without nutritious food, Yemeni civilians are more vulnerable to sickness and developmental issues, and have a harder time keeping warm in the winter months.
UNHCR has reported that further displacement of innocent civilians is expected, and they are preparing for a spike in humanitarian needs as hostilities intensify across Yemen’s west coast. Recently, violence in the capital of Sana’a and neighbouring governorates has flared up, causing more civilian suffering.
The blockade has interrupted international aid initiatives and prevented assistance from reaching conflict-affected and displaced communities. UNHCR’s financial assistance programme was set to benefit more than 17,000 displaced families but it has been postponed due to delays in the release of funding and needy families struggling to access financial help.
Human Appeal is very proud to have added our voice to the Yemen Can’t Wait campaign, started by Crisis Action. We’re joining over 350 signatories from across 50 countries and saying ‘enough’ to the violence and devastation that continues to affect Yemeni civilians, after more than 1,000 days of conflict and suffering.
Charities including Oxfam, Islamic Relief, War Child, Action Against Hunger and Human Rights First have also signed up for this much-needed initiative.
This global coalition of eminent voices will call upon President Trump, Prime Minister May and President Macron to act urgently to put an end to this terrible crisis. They must use their influence as permanent members of the UN Security Council to push for a diplomatic resolution. The war in Yemen is entirely man-made and we must find a man-made solution.
The people of Yemen are plagued by hunger, disease, violence and a lack of clean water. The last thing they need is to suffer through another harsh winter. In the cold and wet weather, it becomes harder for vulnerable cholera patients to recover and families are struggling to keep their little ones warm and dry. For desperate and hungry Yemeni families, winter can be a cold-hearted killer.
Human Appeal is on the ground in Yemen, working tirelessly to deliver live-saving aid. However, we can do nothing without your help.
£250 will provide a family with shelter essentials and allow them to waterproof their tent or house, so they can go to sleep without freezing water leaking inside. £165 will buy warm clothes, blankets, nutritious food and fuel to keep a vulnerable family warm and fed in the coldest months of the year. £65 will provide a family of four with enough food for a whole month.
These gifts could mean the difference between life and death for a Yemeni family that has lost everything.
Together, we can stop winter killing today.
