Yemen – The world’s biggest but forgotten humanitarian crisis
The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, writes:
More than three years since the escalation of the armed conflict, civilians continue to suffer horribly in Yemen. More than 22 million people — or three quarters of the population — need humanitarian aid and protection across the country.
This includes 8.4 million people who do not know where their next meal will come from. Another 10 million people could find themselves in the same situation by the end of the year. Since 2015, fighting has driven more than 3 million people from their homes, including more than 2 million who remain displaced today. An unprecedented outbreak of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea has gripped Yemen since April 2017, with over 1.1 million cases.
Given the massive scale of the crisis, the UN and partners are now running the world’s biggest humanitarian operation in Yemen. Every day, brave humanitarians across the country assist people directly impacted by the conflict and other communities in need, often working in rapidly changing and dangerous environments. The humanitarian response has ramped up dramatically in the last year and is reaching all 22 of Yemen’s governorates, from Sa’ada to Aden and Al Maharah.
In May, we provided emergency food assistance to 7.5 million people — more than twice the number of people we were reaching just over a year ago. We also provided water, sanitation and hygiene services that benefited 6.3 million people — a 60 per cent increase since January. The number of people receiving health services has risen by 50 per cent during the same period.