By Emma Landsburgh
Yemen is currently experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis, yet little to no media coverage has consistently shown the turmoil in the country. The country has been torn apart by war and famine, now the coronavirus has become an added problem. Yemen is in desperate need for humanitarian aid, yet the world has turned its eyes away for years. Now the country is dwindling as death tolls rise and the situation becomes even more critical. The UN has stated the crisis in Yemen as one of the “greatest preventable disasters facing humanity”.
People in the country have been forced through traumatic experiences after the continuous conflict. 24 million people need aid, this equates to 80% of the country’s population. The UN has predicted that if the war does not finish by the end of the year, 233,000 will die due to conflict, starvation, and lack of health services. There were 23,000 fatalities in 2019, marking it the worst year of conflict. Many causes of death are preventable, but without any aid these deaths began to rise considerably. Many of these deaths are preventable and could be avoided, no aid has been able to make it through to make a big enough difference. Especially with the ongoing conflict that has worsened the state of the country.
The war in Yemen started in 2011 from a political transition. Since then political tensions have remained and created conflict, decimating the country. The conflict worsened in 2015. Currently there is a military stalemate after the UN and Houthi rebels agreed on a two phased redeployment. The war considerably worsened the state of Yemen. Now with corrupt leadership and lack of compassion, the country has been left to its own devices.
The strained environment has left people in vulnerable situations. Many ended up losing homes and belongings as 3.65 million people have been displaced. What was known to them has been destroyed. Their futures have been robbed from them, their livelihood, and their education. Schools and hospitals have been closed leading to no medical or educational access. Before the pandemic 2 million children were out of school now school closures have left 7.8 million children without education access.
Half of the country's 3,500 medical facilities are open leaving 2 million people without any access to medical help. Those that remain open are in short supply of essential equipment. Due to this the country has been hit hard by disease. In 2016 the cholera outbreak had 2.2 million cases and caused 3895 deaths due to lack of sanitation and clean water. Now coronavirus is entering the country, which will lead to catastrophic problems as it is spreading quickly but testing and treatment levels remain the lowest in the world.
Now headlines have been replaced with news about the rapid spread of coronavirus and the impact of the pandemic around the globe. Yemen has been replaced in the headlines as countries' move their attention inward. Now Yemen has become even more isolated and left to its own devices, although they are under strain from the impact of war, famine, and disease.
Over the years, this conflict has drifted in and out of the media. However, it never remained as a top story or gained much attention. The lack of information led to Yemen seeing itself falling into a humanitarian crisis with barely any aid. People are barely living, struggling to even survive. With a government that is focused on war, the people of Yemen have been left behind. Unfortunately, if Yemen is left in this state the situation will continue to worsen. The most affected of the conflict and devastation are children. The country has faced turmoil for years, it is reaching the breaking point for needing help.
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