Nearly two out of every five families in Yemen buy food and medicines using debt, according to Oxfam research published today. 

Donors have given the equivalent of 25 US cents per day for each of the 24.3 million people in need in Yemen, about half the amount given last year, Oxfam warned today.

The dramatic cut comes despite COVID-19 heaping further challenges on a country already suffering the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

Oxfam today called on the UN Security Council to condemn the recent attacks in Yemen and inject new urgency into peace talks to end the seven-year conflict. The call follows airstrikes that have killed and injured hundreds of civilians in the last week and led to the suspension of humanitarian aid in parts of the country.   At the same time, people are struggling with spiraling prices for food, fuel, and basic essentials in what was already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.  

Following recent airstrikes in Yemen, Muhsin Sidiqquey Oxfam's country director in Yemen said: “The increase in fighting in Yemen is having a deadly impact and once again it is civilians that are paying the price. The people of Yemen have been caught in the crossfire of this violent conflict for nearly seven years.  They can’t wait any longer for peace - the international community must urgently negotiate an immediate cessation in hostilities and a lasting end to the conflict.”

In response to today’s Virtual High-Level Side Event on Yemen, Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: “After years of conflict, two-thirds of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance, one in eight people are displaced, and levels of hunger and utmost poverty continue to increase. In this context, the country cannot cope with the further crisis of COVID-19."

Yemenis are battling a third wave of COVID, which threatens 99 per cent of the population who are unvaccinated, Oxfam said today.

Oxfam confirms the death of colleague Fathi Mahmoud Ali Salem Al-Zurigi in Yemen on the evening of Tuesday May 25, after a shooting incident on Monday May 24. 

In response to the Global Report on Food Crises released today, Oxfam International’s Global Advisor for Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods Emily Farr said: “Oxfam is deeply concerned by the findings from the Global Report on Food Crises released today, which show that the confluence of conflict, economic shocks including from COVID-19, and extreme weather exacerbated by climate change has radically increased extreme hunger and inequality around the globe.

A year on since the UN warned of “famines of biblical proportions”, rich donors have funded just 5 percent of the UN’s $7.8bn food security appeal for 2021. More than 200 NGOs published an open letter today calling upon all governments to urgently increase aid to stop over 34 million people, from being pushed to the brink of starvation this year.

Reacting to the reports that the Saudi-led coalition has allowed four ships to dock at the blockaded port of Hudaydah Oxfam’s Yemen Country Director Muhsin Siddiquey said: “The move hopefully sets a precedent allowing full access of essential food and fuel imports and humanitarian aid to a country on the brink of famine. The blockade has been a critical factor in creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and must be fully lifted to prevent further suffering.