04/24/2017

Donors’ Conference for Yemen (April 25): Failure to offer assistance might lead to many deaths in Yemen

Passivity is an evidence of incapacity in terms of humanity (Press Release)

More than 17 million Yemenis could become dependent on aid supplies during the coming months. Photo: Irin Photos via Flickr

On occasion of the donors’ conference for Yemen on Tuesday in Geneva, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns that the failure to offer assistance for Yemen might lead to many deaths in the country, which is shaken by a civil war. “It is scandalous and embarrassing to ignore the suffering of the civilian population in Yemen. So far, only 15.2 percent of the required aid funds have been provided. The international community must act up to its obligation to protect the civilian population, as was decided at the Millennium Summit in 2005. Currently, war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Yemen,” stated the STP in Göttingen on Monday. “If the majority of the industrial nations are not prepared to provide the 1.8 billion Euros required to ensure that the needy will have enough supplies, this is an evidence of incapacity in terms of humanity.”

The STP called for an immediate ceasefire and demanded that there should be no more arms deliveries to the states and conflict parties involved in the civil war. Thus, the STP also criticized the German armaments deliveries to Saudi Arabia, which were approved of in March 2017. The two coastal protection boats from Germany can also be used for blockades of ports in Yemen.

The STP also sent an urgent appeal to the respective states and armed groups, demanding them not to block or attack the port of Al Hudaydah at the Red Sea, as this would impede humanitarian aid for the needy population. The port is the most important hub for humanitarian aid to Yemen.

More than 17 million Yemenis could become dependent on aid supplies during the coming months. Currently, 6.8 million people are already dependent on food aid, and about 80 percent of the children living in the country are desperately in need of aid. Due to malnourishment, about 50 percent of the children are impaired in their physical or mental development – and 1.1 million pregnant women are at risk because they are undernourished.

In Yemen, more than three million people are on the run because of the civil war. Due to the insecure situation, two million children are no longer able to visit their schools – and it is especially the about one million dark-skinned Al-Akhdam who are suffering from the violence. They have been discriminated against for years, and they have no rights.

Header photo: IRIN Photos via Flickr