Emergency supplies distributed in March 2020 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to displaced Yemeni families. © 2020 UNFPA. All rights reserved. Licensed to the European Union under conditions.
The Yemeni crisis officially began in 2011 when the Yemini population, following the ideals of the Arab Spring, started protesting against the long-lasting regime established by Ali Abdullah Saleh. Protests plunged the country into political instability generating violence, hunger, and death, and in 2014 the crisis turned into a civil war. Today, while the Yemeni crisis can be described as a human tragedy, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to worsen the existing emergency.
In 2019, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs portrayed the Yemeni situation as the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. According to the last reports, about 80% of the whole population in Yemen currently needs humanitarian assistance. Among those who require help, over 14,3 million people are in acute need. As the UNHCR describes, between 2015 and 2020, the Yemeni conflict has displaced more than 3,5 million people, 1 million of whom are internally displaced. Hostilities have resulted in over 50,000 deaths to date.
Since 2015, the United Nations and its Agencies have developed and implemented various programs to address the crisis and provide adequate aid to the Yemeni population. Similarly, various non-governmental organizations have offered humanitarian support to face poverty, hunger, water shortages, and the cholera epidemic. However, according to the UNHCR, it would cost around USD 211,9 million to effectively carry out all the 2020 humanitarian operations planned in the region.
In this scenario, the COVID-19 pandemic appears as a new challenge in the Yemeni crisis. The Yemeni health system has been shattered by war, and the population has no longer access to healthcare facilities. Moreover, local authorities cannot precisely determine the exact number of infected people, making the virus spread faster.
The international community has the moral obligation to support Yemen to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic; the Yemeni population cannot be left alone.
By Simone M. Russo