Yemen’s ongoing civil war has left 24 million in need of assistance and more than 100,000 dead since the conflict began in late 2014. Today, Yemen is considered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and is on the brink of being labeled by the United Nations as the world’s worst famine in 100 years.
A hungry Yemeni child eats a food bag. USAID_IMAGES. CC BY-NC 2.0.
Hunger, malnutrition, famine, displacement and mental health issues are among some of the devastating consequences imposed upon Yemeni civilians by the country’s civil war. Although the conflict between Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi’s government and the Houthi, or Ansar Allah, armed movement broke out in late 2014, Yemen was already one of the most vulnerable countries in the Middle East.
Following the Arab Spring in late 2011, previous Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to turn over his power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Since then, the country has been enthralled in a civil war which has left millions of civilians hungry homeless, or dead. Houthi forces took over Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, in late 2014, instigating the war. By early 2015, Houthi officials declared mobilization to overthrow Hadi’s regime and, only a day later, fighting broke out in Lahij Governorate. Lahij Governorate quickly succumbed to Houthi rule and President Hadi fled the nation.
With the help of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia created a coalition of mostly Sunni Arab states to combat Houthi forces and the rise of Iranian influence in the Middle East in 2015. Today, much of the conflict in Yemen is a proxy conflict for the power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the region.
The Arab coalition conducted countless air campaigns to drive out Houthi forces from Yemen and facilitate the return of Hadi’s government, despite the trail of destruction these air strikes leave behind. Funerals, weddings, homes, mosques, schools and hospitals have all fallen victim to these bombs. In response to an attack on Saudi Arabia’s eastern oil fields—which disrupted nearly five percent of the world’s global oil supply—Saudi Arabia spearheaded a bombing campaign. According to the Yemen Data Project, the conflict and air strikes since 2015 left around 17,000 Yemeni civilians dead or injured, as of March of 2019.
According to the United Nations, Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. With over 100,000 people killed and 85,000 children dead from famine, the UN warned that millions of Yemenis could face starvation in what could be “the world’s worst famine in 100 years.” Currently, 16.2 million Yemenis are food insecure while famine continues to rise; child malnutrition there is one of the highest in the world, with two million children in need of acute malnutrition assistance; and at least one child dies of malnutrition or diarrhea every 10 minutes in Yemen.
Displacement is another major consequence of the war in Yemen. With more than five million people estimated to have been forced to flee their homes, four million Yemenis remain displaced today. These displaced families live in camps of makeshift shelters, forcing them to continue moving around and making them vulnerable to severe weather conditions, air strikes and other dangers. In addition to the overwhelming number of displaced and homeless Yemenis, the nation is also home to around 300,000 refugees mostly from the Horn of Africa.
The devastating impacts of Yemen’s ongoing war does not stop at the physical realm—consequences of the violence have affected the mental health of Yemeni youth. According to Columbia Global Centers’ PGIF Project, a 25-year-old living in Yemen today “has already lived through 15 major conflicts and wars,” making depression, PTSD and other mental health disorders common in Yemen’s youth. Considering the lack of infrastructure and medical facilities already in Yemen, mental health concerns are pushed to the backburner. With roughly one psychiatrist per 500,000 people, only three mental health hospitals exist in Yemen. The lack of mental health services and resources has forced individuals who battle with mental health issues to turn to alternate methods of help, such as Quranic healing, while professional help is reserved for more extreme disorders, such as psychosis.
PTSD is one of the most common products of war, and this is evident with Yemeni children. Growing up with bombs dropping all around them, PTSD in Yemeni civilians and children is often triggered by loud noises and the sounds of planes whooshing overhead. Behavioral changes such as bedwetting, isolating oneself and emotional detachment are common consequences of PTSD in children.
Beyond death by air strike or on-the-ground fighting, many Yemenis have lost their lives to hunger and diseases because of restrictions on humanitarian assistance, imports and access to essential services. Because of this, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres refers to Yemen’s crisis as “man-made.” Many third party nations, organizations and institutions have requested the warring countries involved to improve civilian protection, but have experienced little success. Now, many activists have taken to social media to garner support and aid for Yemen’s children, as well as raise awareness of Yemen’s situation—for being the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, Yemen is often underrepresented in the media.
GET INVOLVED
Despite the restrictions on humanitarian aid in Yemen, there are still ways to help. Save the Children is one of the largest organizations operating in Yemen and is currently aiding children suffering from malnutrition, supporting health facilities in hard-to-reach areas and leading educational programs.
The international organization, World Food Programme, aims to provide 13 million people with food assistance across Yemen. To accomplish this goal and ensure their efforts are uninterrupted in 2021, the WFP is seeking to raise $1.9 billion.
The Danish Refugee Council offers partnership opportunities to private companies, where partners will have the opportunity to help solve the global displacement crisis. The DNC is a trusted partner of the United Nations, is rated the world’s third best non-governmental organization, and is a Core Humanitarian Standards certified organization.
Mia Khatib
Mia is a rising senior at Boston University majoring in journalism and minoring in international relations. As a Palestinian-American, Mia is passionate about amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and is interested in investigative and data-driven journalism. She hopes to start out as a breaking news reporter and one day earn a position as editor of a major publication.