It’s difficult to get your head around the numbers in Yemen’s extreme humanitarian crisis.
Out of a population of 30 million, more than 23 million people in Yemen, including nearly 13 million children, are in need of humanitarian assistance; 17.8 million people do not have access to safe drinking water.
In the seven years of conflict between the Saudi and UAE-led coalition, which backs the Yemeni government, and the Houthi armed group, thousands have been killed and injured.
The coalition has conducted scores of unlawful airstrikes against civilians. Houthi forces have used banned antipersonnel landmines and fired artillery into populated areas. Enforced disappearances have been on the rise.
But what might be most deadly over the long term is how the warring parties have repeatedly attacked hospitals, and food and water facilities, and how they prevent access to humanitarian aid.
The levels of starvation in Yemen are unprecedented, and yet authorities are continuing to block aid.
The Yemeni government itself has been impeding aid by imposing complex bureaucratic requirements on aid agencies. This undermines the ability of millions of civilians to receive desperately needed assistance.
Partly in response to the obstruction of aid by both the Yemeni government and the Houthis, donors have significantly cut support to UN aid agencies, creating more aid shortages.
Just imagine you and your family starving because of your government’s bureaucracy…
It doesn’t have to be like this. This starvation is largely manufactured, and what authorities have done, they can also undo.
The Yemeni government could save millions of lives, including the lives of children, by changing course and allowing humanitarian aid to flow.
Policies and paperwork should aim to make water, food, and health care more accessible, not less.