By Evie Miller, Senior Editor
[A young boy in Yemen]
Arabia Felix. That is what Yemen was once named. With ‘Felix’ Latin for ‘happy’ or ‘fortunate’, the name of this nation was originally derived from its lucky environmental position; its high mountains allowed for much rain, making the land here much more fertile than any of the other nations, in the Arabian Peninsula.
Today, however, Yemen is no longer known for its fortunate position. Instead, the country is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Around 80% of Yemen’s population- over 24 million lives, more than half of these being children- are in desperate need of humanitarian help, due to the effects of an ongoing civil war in the nation.
The conflict was sparked when the Houthis- an opposition group from north Yemen, in alliance with the Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh - took over the government in the nation’s capital, Sana’a, in 2015.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates led a coalition of states in Yemen, and have fought against the Houthi forces, with the aim of removing power from these rebels, and restoring Yemen’s government.
Recently, these alliances have become fractured, resulting in further conflict, and, despite Saudi officials predicting that the war would only last for a few weeks, Yemen has been under conflict for the last 5 years.
This war plunged Yemen into its humanitarian crisis. And it is only getting worse: the effects of this war are being further heightened by the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.
Already being the poorest country in the Middle East, the conflict in Yemen caused the nation’s economy to crumble.
This lack of economic stability has resulted in over 20 million people suffering from food insecurity, 10 million of them being at risk of famine, the nation’s healthcare system severely struggling, and no place of shelter being provided to the millions of people who have been displaced due to war.
The few health facilities that are functioning lack the resources needed to tackle the many health problems that so many of Yemen’s civilians are facing due to the effects of conflict, such as malnutrition from lack of access to food, as well as diseases that have increasingly spread due to widespread improper sanitation and Yemen’s major water crisis, such as cholera and diphtheria. Civilian casualties have further stressed Yemen’s healthcare services; since the conflict began in 2015, over 17,500 people have been killed and injured as a direct consequence.
[Yemen’s healthcare system is struggling due to the effects of war]
Having to deal with the rise of coronavirus, on top of a healthcare system on the verge of collapse, only threatens to sink Yemen into further crisis. Health facilities lack the equipment needed to cope with preventing the spread and effects of coronavirus, such as masks, gloves and ventilators. There are only 500 ventilators and 700 intensive care unit beds available across the whole of Yemen.
As of today (08/07/20), Yemen has a recorded number of 1,318 coronavirus cases, and 351 deaths, which is considerably lower than the millions of cases in USA and Brazil.
However, due to there being limited tests available, and there being great difficulty in the collection of data during conflict, the exact number of cases is unknown, and could actually be much higher than anticipated.
The UN has warned that deaths due to the coronavirus could now surpass all of the thousands of deaths that were of a result of war.
Young children are suffering the horrifying consequences of conflict every single day, and lack the safety and security that every child has a right to. UNICEF has stated that in Yemen, every 10 minutes, a child dies from preventable causes. 2 million children, under the age of 5 years, are malnourished, and 10.2 million children lack access to basic healthcare. Even before the rise of coronavirus, there was an estimated 2 million children that were not in school. And now, this has risen to 7.8 million children.
These figures are devastating, and highlight the urgency of Yemen’s cry for help.
This war in Yemen shows no signs of coming to an end yet. Innocent civilians are continuing to pay the price of war. They are continuing to suffer from an increasing economic crisis, a broken government, and a lack of food, water, housing, health and education systems.
24 million people in Yemen are struggling to survive. And this figure is only going to continue to rise; for as long as Yemen remains in a state of conflict, and doesn’t receive the urgent help that it needs, this nation will continue to suffer the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
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