The Yemen humanitarian crisis is currently the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, making providing the ailing country hunger relief one of the most important tasks anyone can do today. The Yemen Crisis stems from a variety of reasons, all of which have led to the Yemen Food Crisis, the Yemen Water Crisis, the Yemen Refugee Crisis, among other tragedies.
The Yemen Crisis Explained
Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, has been embroiled in a bloody civil war including multiple factions and foreign powers for the past seven years. As a result, more than three million Yemenis have fled their homes to elsewhere in the country, as well as 280,000 to other countries. The conflict has also resulted in 75% of the population—around 21 million people—being in desperate need of humanitarian aid, including more than 11 million children. Plus, 11.3 million people are in acute need and require immediate assistance to survive. Part of this is due to the fact only half of the country’s 3,500 health facilities are operational, and those that are lack basic equipment, including some that’s necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, masks, gloves, oxygen, among other essential COVID-fighting supplies. Yemen’s weakened medical state has led to 16.4 million people lacking basic healthcare and health workers not receiving a regular salary in several years. The coronavirus is only exacerbating the horrific humanitarian crisis in Yemen, as is the world’s largest cholera outbreak ripping through the area. The cholera outbreak alone has resulted in more than 1 million suspected cases and 2,248 associated deaths since April 2017.
How Yemeni Children Are Affected
The crisis in Yemen has led to 17.8 million people not knowing where their next meal is coming from and 8.4 million at risk of starvation. This includes 2.3 million children under five years old suffering from acute malnutrition and 400,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition, according to an analysis in February 2021. Children also continue to be killed and maimed in the conflict, and damage and closure of schools and hospitals continues to disrupt their access to education and health services, leaving them even more vulnerable and robbing them of their futures.
How to Help Yemen and How to Help Children in Yemen
Embrace Relief has been distributing food packages to Yemen as part of its World Hunger Relief campaign, which started in 2013. In 2020 alone, we sent over 18,000 food packages (including Qurbani packages, which contain meat high in fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins) to people in need worldwide. This includes over 1,600 to children—including orphans—and families in Yemen. We’ve staunchly continued our support this year, too, reaching over an additional 30,000 people worldwide. So, please help Yemen by making a Yemen Crisis Donation today, and be sure to keep up-to-date with the conflict by visiting the r/yemen crisis subreddit on the popular social media website Reddit. It’s brimming with all kinds of topics and information related to the crisis. Together, we can alleviate the suffering of thousands of people struggling to put food on the table in Yemen, providing them both the nutrition they desperately need as well as hope for a brighter future.
