Yemen

The global repercussions of the Ukraine crisis ―already being felt in fast-rising food, commodity and energy prices― could undermine official aid efforts to help people in other humanitarian hot-spots. 

In response to today’s Virtual High-Level Pledging Event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, Ferran Puig, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: “The world must not look away while Yemen suffers. Even before the Ukraine conflict drove up food prices and threatened food imports, two thirds of major aid programmes had already been reduced or closed because of lack of funding." 

Oxfam is horrified by the loss of life being witnessed, and gravely concerned by the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine.  We call for an immediate end to hostilities.

Figures released today show licences worth at least £42.6 million were issued for arms exports to Saudi Arabia between July and September last year, many of which will be used in the war in Yemen. Since the conflict escalated, nearly seven years ago, over four million people have been forced from their homes with over 19,000 civilian casualties. 

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.