Yemenis need urgent humanitarian aid

Long-term security can only be achieved through a peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict

t is important that the world has not forgotten the people of Yemen as they suffer the desperate consequences of war raging in their country. It is a problem that the wars in Syria have attracted a lot of international news coverage, but it remains a fact that more than 17 million Yemenis have insecure food supplies, and that includes many millions who are close to starvation, including a whole generation of two million children. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Yemen is one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises and faces the “world’s largest hunger crisis”. He put it in stark terms when he said that one child under five years old dies every 10 minutes in Yemen from completely preventable causes. The massive disruption caused by the ongoing fighting has destroyed stable supply lines, and the collapse of the health services means that diagnosis and treatment of illness have largely stopped.

Yesterday, in Geneva, international donors pledged $1.1 billion (Dh4 billion) towards humanitarian aid in Yemen. The donor countries include the UAE and Saudi Arabia — who are active in the war, supporting the legitimate government in Yemen — as well as Kuwait, Germany and the United States. This vital support means that initiatives like the ones run under the World Food Programme can expand their cover from the existing five million people getting basic rations to something like nine million who have been deemed severely food insecure. The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states took the opportunity of the pledging conference to hold a meeting on the sidelines, where they renewed their commitment to help Yemen in its reconstruction, development and economic recovery, in addition to its immediate requirement for humanitarian support. The GCC recognises its special relationship with Yemen. It is the largest contributor to helping the country and supplies about 85 per cent of all humanitarian aid to the country.

But all attendees at the donor conference recognised that vital aid was not the long-term answer to the country’s security, which can only be achieved through a peaceful resolution of the conflict. A fair political solution is what will end the country’s suffering and it is important that all parties who are interested in restoring peace in Yemen need to work to support an equitable solution. In the areas controlled by the legitimate government and the Saudi-led coalition, reconstruction is under way — including substantial contributions from the UAE Red Crescent and the UAE Armed Forces, who have been instrumental in rebuilding Yemen’s infrastructure.