Don’t abandon Yemen as starvation threatens millions

Despite our own problems here at home, we cannot forget that people are starving to death in war-torn Yemen. Now the Coronavirus is also spreading in Yemen claiming lives and disrupting food distributions. We must help Yemen because no one else is.

A recent international donor conference to raise funds for Yemen relief produced little results, not anywhere near what is needed to save the population. “It feels like the world abandoned Yemen today,” said Xavier Joubert of Save the Children.

It’s up to the American public to lead in saving Yemen, because President Trump and other world leaders are not doing anything to end Yemen’s suffering. The war in Yemen between a Saudi Arabia led coalition against the Houthi rebels has claimed over 100,000 lives since 2015. The Trump administration has failed on many fronts when it comes to Yemen. By supporting arms sales and military aid to the Saudi coalition, Trump has enabled the war to continue. The United States should be a peacemaker and humanitarian only, not enabling the fight. Previous Saudi airstrikes that have struck Yemeni civilians have been with U.S. made bombs. This is a shocking moral disgrace.

Trump has also failed to support the humanitarian aid necessary to combat hunger in Yemen and elsewhere. Cuts to global food aid have been included in every annual budget proposal put forward by Trump. The President needs to be a leader in calling for increasing food aid.

The war in Yemen has placed the country on the brink of famine. Save the Children estimates that 85,000 Yemeni kids have died of hunger and disease since the war began. This is in addition to the aforementioned war causalities. The UN World Food Program feeds over 12 million Yemenis a month with life-saving rations. That is a population about the size of Ohio. WFP and other relief agencies need lots of funding to keep this massive food pipeline moving. But they are running out.

Sheridan Marifill of the World Food Program USA writes “One in three Yemenis relies on emergency food assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme, so we know our lifesaving work cannot stop during this pandemic. But we’re running out of funds to keep our crucial Yemen program going.”

Tamuna Sabadze of the International Rescue Committee says “In a country ravaged by food insecurity, 2.5 million malnourished children will lose nutrition support in July and August. Yemenis need our help more than ever, and yet, the world is turning its back.”

Trump has also withdrawn from the World Health Organization, which is needed to help Yemen battle coronavirus, cholera and Dengue fever. The public must demand that the Trump administration cut all military support for the Saudis and focus on getting a peace treaty to end the war. Trump must support increases in hunger relief programs for Yemen and other countries. Funding must be restored and increased to the World Health Organization.

Every citizen can take their own action too by supporting the heroic relief agencies fighting hunger and disease in Yemen. WFP, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, IRC, Action against Hunger, UNICEF and others need funding. Students at Mount St. Joseph University, University of Cincinnati, Cal Poly and University of Illinois are using the online game FreeRice to raise funds for WFP.

Yemen immediately needs a nationwide ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian aid. They won’t get it if we remain silent though. We have to demand peace and food for Yemen.