Yemen crisis

In reaction to the reprehensible attack that killed 13 civilians, including children, in the north of Yemen yesterday, Oxfam and seven other international agencies working in Yemen strongly condemned the attack.

Reacting to the outcome of the pledging conference for Yemen, Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International’s Executive Director, said: "Donors’ pledges to Yemen are failing to keep up with the growing need in the country". 

Recent funding gaps and other challenges in Yemen will put an additional estimated 5.5 million people in the war-torn country at risk of losing access to life-saving aid, such as food, cash and clean water this year, Oxfam and 23 international humanitarian NGOs said today, ahead of the Virtual Yemen Pledging Conference.

As the first case of coronavirus is confirmed in Yemen, Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam Country Director in Yemen said: “The first confirmed case of coronavirus in Yemen is a devastating blow in a country that is ill-equipped after five years of brutal conflict to contain its spread.

In reaction to the announcement by the Saudi coalition of a ceasefire in Yemen, Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam Yemen Country Director, said : "The announcement from the Saudi-led coalition that it will be laying down arms is a welcome move that offers Yemen a chance to avert a fresh disaster.  

With a recent upsurge in fighting in Yemen, the forthcoming rainy season and tightening of borders due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, there’s no end in sight to the daily toll of death, disease and displacement five years after the conflict escalated, Oxfam warned today.

Yemen is suffering a forgotten cholera crisis, Oxfam said today, as it warned the number of people there with the disease could spiral as the country approaches rainy season in April and health systems are close to collapse.

In reaction to the recent strikes on Jawf governorate, northern Yemen, which killed 31 and injured 12 civilians on 15 February, Oxfam and ten international aid organizations expressed their shock and deep condemnation of these military escalations.

 

A quarter of all civilian casualties across Yemen in 2019 were recorded in Hudaydah governorate. Despite a ceasefire in the port city being at the heart of last year’s Stockholm Agreement, Hudaydah has seen 799 civilian deaths and injuries since the Agreement was signed, the highest toll countrywide.

With 14 million men, women and children on the brink of famine – half the country’s population – there has never been a more urgent time to act.