Analyzing the different aspects of the humanitarian and health situation in Yemen last year.
Yemen was the poorest Arab country in West Asia until the 2015 war. This war has worsened the situation in Yemen in such a way that this country was facing the biggest humanitarian disaster in the world in the 21st century until the October 7 war in Gaza. Although the war had stopped for the past year, the human and economic consequences of 8 years of war were still there. In this article, the humanitarian and health situation in Yemen is briefly reviewed in the past year.
1. Fragile humanitarian situation in Yemen
Despite the continuation of the ceasefire and the cessation of war in Yemen, many elements of its humanitarian crisis persist; The situation in this country is fragile. The statistics show the fragility of the situation in Yemen:
In 2023, about 21.6 million people in Yemen, equivalent to 67% of the country’s population, will need humanitarian assistance and protection services, of which 11 million are children.
Nearly 17 million Yemenis are facing acute food insecurity; Malnutrition has reached unprecedented levels in this country, which is among the highest in the world.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that about 6 million children in Yemen are just one step away from starvation and need immediate support.
2 million 200 thousand Yemeni children under the age of 5 and 1 million 300 thousand pregnant and lactating women suffer from acute malnutrition.
More than 4,500,000 Yemenis are internally displaced.
14 million and 500 thousand Yemenis do not have access to safe and sanitary water.
Yemeni students’ access to schools is limited and education for other children is not a priority. The education of Yemeni children has been seriously damaged by the war.
2. The situation of the healthcare sector in Yemen
During the 8 years of Saudi Arabia’s asymmetric war against Yemen, Yemen’s health system has almost collapsed. The healthcare sector in Yemen is facing a severe crisis due to widespread conflicts, which have led to the spread of cholera and other diseases and the closing of clinics and health centers. Healthcare centers in Yemen suffer from a severe lack of medicine, equipment, and human resources. “Arthur Bisigan”, the representative of the World Health Organization in Yemen, said, “Yemen is still facing one of the most severe crises in the world in terms of humanitarian and health conditions, after about a decade of war and tension.
Only 51% of the medical centers of this country are fully operational. 36% of medical centers in Yemen operate in a limited way. “Natalia Kanim”, the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, warned of a humanitarian disaster for Yemeni women and said that a Yemeni woman dies every two hours due to the lack of health and treatment facilities during pregnancy. 100 hospitals out of 268 covered by the United Nations Fund have been closed.
The human rights organization “Intsaf” affiliated with the National Salvation Government of Yemen based in Sana’a announced in a report last June that Yemeni women are under the pressure of lack of health care, killing, displacement, and violation of all their rights guaranteed by international laws and treaties. is, they live The report states that women in Yemen face one of the highest forms of violence, especially regarding the right to personal security and access to health care during pregnancy and childbirth, with the death rate among Yemeni women being one of the highest in the world. More than 50% of births are performed by non-specialists. Every two hours, a woman and 6 babies die due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth, and the number of women who may die during pregnancy or childbirth is estimated at 17,000 women.
Another point is that Yemeni children are considered to be the victims of this dire situation, with death, hunger, displacement, physical disabilities, health problems, and diseases caused by lack of food or unhealthy nutrition, lack of medical system, unhealthy water, and bad conditions. They are struggling economically. Yemeni children live in very difficult physical and mental conditions, lack of health, murder, and displacement have imposed these conditions on them.