Seven years after the conflict erupted in Yemen, we continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected population
Seven years of war, hunger and poverty. No peace for Yemen, wracked by the conflict erupted in 2015 which continues to fuel the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than 380,000 victims, of whom 60% are people who have lost their lives to the indirect consequences of the conflict, such as hunger and preventable diseases. Among the most dramatic consequences of the war is malnutrition. The shortage of basic goods and the consequent rise in prices have led to a profound increase in food insecurity, particularly among the poorest people, those who do not have the resources to access food. More than 5 million people suffer from acute malnutrition. Of these, some 2.3 million are children under the age of five.
Exacerbating the already worrying situation is the growing health emergency. Medical facilities, which are not functioning or have been completely destroyed by the clashes, cannot guarantee basic healthcare to the population, while epidemics of polio, cholera, dengue fever, measles and diphtheria continue to ravage the country. To these, COVID-19 was added. The Yemeni crisis has continued for seven long years as aid and funding gradually decreased. Last year, less than two-thirds of the $3.9 billion that was deemed necessary to fund the humanitarian response in the country was raised. Without adequate funding, 11 million people risk starvation and denied access to water and sanitation.
INTERSOS’ intervention in the country
In this context, humanitarian aid becomes a priority to help as many people as possible. INTERSOS has been in the southern and northern governorates since 2008 and has never stopped offering assistance to the most vulnerable. Our intervention guarantees health and nutritional assistance services, mainly through the support to existing hospital facilities but also the provision of water, sanitation and essential goods. In addition to this, protection and psychosocial assistance are provided by the mobile teams to the hard-to-reach population: in 2021 alone, 450,000 people were reached with psychological and legal support and financial assistance.
Following the emergency caused by COVID-19, we took part in the COVAX vaccination campaign, supporting the direct delivery of vaccines through the management of two vaccination centres in the state of Lahj, in the south of the country. By the end of December 2021, our staff managed to provide the first dose to about 2,500 people and now, 1.2 million doses are being delivered to accelerate the vaccination campaign. Seven years after the outbreak of the conflict, the presence of humanitarian organisations such as INTERSOS remains, for better or worse, the only barrier to the definitive collapse of the country. However, this depends on the availability of funds to continue to provide assistance to the population.