Once renowned as one of the world’s oldest centers of civilization, Yemen is now the site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The country’s natural and archaeological treasures, including four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, have been largely destroyed by Yemen’s brutal civil war. However, these losses cannot compare to the unfathomable human suffering the Yemeni people have endured during numerous years of grinding conflict.
Since the outset of civil war in 2014, Yemen has spiraled into catastrophe with famine-like conditions and mass displacement across the country. The healthcare system has completely collapsed, triggering outbreaks of malnutrition and disease, including more than one million cases of cholera.
Clashes have frequently closed the country’s main ports, blocking key imports like food and medicine. Yemen was already the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula before the war, and the conflict’s economic costs are higher than most Yemeni families can bear. As food prices skyrocket across the country, people can’t afford the food they need to survive – and hunger may ultimately end more lives than fighting.
With an estimated 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, Yemen is one of Relief International’s most extensive programs.
Relief International began operating in Yemen in 2009 prior to the onset of the conflict, working on long-term development projects to improve sanitation, hygiene and economic opportunities.
As the country’s civil war has shifted, so has our work. We operate on the front lines of the crisis, delivering emergency rations of food, safe drinking water, life-saving healthcare and direct cash support.
Our work includes:
“With no foreseeable end to this conflict, our team is prepared to continue our emergency response in Yemen for the long-term, until a sustainable peace is reached. That’s when the next phase of our work will begin to reconstruct this devastated nation,” shares Relief International’s Regional Director for the Middle East. “The country’s infrastructure, economy and public services will have to be rebuilt, as well as trust between communities – and that will take time.”
War breaks out in Yemen. Relief International delivers critical stores of blankets, mattresses, kitchen supplies, and more than 8,000 metric tons of food to families caught in the middle of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The war in Yemen enters its second year, and hunger mounts across the country as markets close, food imports stall, and access to food dwindles. Relief International launches a wide-scale response to rising malnutrition rates by equipping mobile medical clinics to traverse the country’s rugged hills to ensure access to quality healthcare, particularly in remote pockets of the country cut off from main services.
The number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen surpasses one million. Relief International responds to the deadly outbreak by setting up treatment centers, training community health workers, and partnering with local communities to stem the spread of the disease. In 2017, our teams conducted a total of 126,349 medical consultations.
Food prices skyrocket after warring parties blockade the port of Hodeida – a lifeline for 70 percent of all aid into Yemen. Relief International expands its programs to deliver emergency stocks of food, medicine, and other life-saving supplies to families fleeing an escalation in the violence surrounding Hodeida.
Despite steps taken by the international community towards peace in late 2018, violence continues to escalate in areas outside of Hodeida. Relief International is among one of the largest providers of aid responding to the crisis unfolding in the northern governorates of Hajjah, Dhamar, and Amran, where our teams are providing comprehensive healthcare and food aid for families displaced by the fighting.
Your gift to Relief International helps us provide life-saving healthcare, food aid and other critical services to those caught in the midst of some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. This all starts with you.
