Yemen

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The Situation is Getting Worse - Save the Children  Yemen, You Tube

With Syria and the refugee crisis grabbing newspaper space for what seems like months now, when I became a voluntary Community champion for Save the Children it came as something of a shock to me (as I'm sure it will to most people) to realise that the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world today is probably in Yemen. Pulverised by a bloody civil war and now the infiltration of Al Quaeda and ISIS, it is subject to a commercial blockade that is preventing effective aid reaching those who need it most at a time when it is estimated that 80% of the population are reliant on organisations like Save The Children and the UN for food and health care.

Prior to the conflict Yemen was already the poorest nation in the Middle East but the statistics are now horrific. It is estimated that: 
21.1 million people are in need of aid and 9.9 million children are affected
12.8 million people do not even have access to the basics for survival and hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of dying of malnutrition
15.4 million people have no access to healthcare
20.9 million people are in need of water and sanitation

The crisis is huge and yet it is constantly ignored by the media and politicians. The EU Council has, however, met earlier this week to discuss the position and drawn helpful conclusions.

Save the Children is seeking to raise awareness. We need our Governments to exert their influence on Saudi Arabia which is imposing the blockade, in order to allow humanitarian aid and protection for those in Yemen who will otherwise surely die. 

No child is born to die.


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