The Crisis in Yemen Has Gotten Worse, and Now There’s Not Enough Money to Help

Photo by Kate Nevens

As Yemen faces the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, a recent United Nations emergency funding drive came up short $1 billion.

Despite the participation of 130 governments and aid organizations, a fundraiser last month failed to meet its $2.45 billion target. As a result, 30 of the UN’s 41 programs in Yemen will shut their doors until the money is found. Funding from International donors has fallen 78% compared to June 2019. The crisis in the Arab country is widely considered to be the direst emergency on the planet, and yet, things might get worse.

Why Yemen Needs the Money

There are three major, interconnected emergencies affecting Yemen, inducing approximately 80% of the country (24 million people) to rely on external aid.

1. 10 million Yemenis face the threat of famine as the economic and agricultural infrastructure is virtually nonexistent.
2. Amid the Arab Spring, Yemen’s president of two decades, Ali Abdullah Saleh, stepped down following nationwide protests. Despite Saleh’s departure, the country soon descended into civil war as competing forces jockeyed for power. Since the war began in 2015, over 100,000 people have been killed, many of them civilians. A brief ceasefire was called, but it expired two months ago. Now, the fighting continues. Pro-government air raids barrage Sanaa and surrounding provinces.
3. Simultaneously, and largely caused and exacerbated by the conflict, Yemen is facing a series of devastating epidemics. Yemen has one of the worst outbreaks of Cholera in the world, according to Doctors Without Borders, with over one million cases countrywide. Already 110,000 people have been infected this year. Other diseases such as Dengue Fever and Malaria have plagued the nation as well. Malaria holds an endemic status and dengue fever infected over 30,000 people as of November of last year. It is possible the numbers are far higher due to the difficulty of gathering information in conflict areas or those cutoff by poor infrastructure.

Like other countries around the globe, Yemen is now dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as well. There have been only 1,581 confirmed cases but a concerningly high 443 deaths. This 28% mortality rate is alarming and is likely the result of two factors. Due to an already overwhelmed and emaciated health infrastructure, few COVID-19 patients are able to receive the life-saving assistance they need, if they are able to receive care at all. Additionally, because the public health infrastructure is so restricted, testing is rare and often only available by aid organizations. In all likelihood, the case count is much higher than the official confirmed number.

Funding Shortfall

As a result of the pandemic, two major financial channels assisting Yemen have started to dry up.

For decades Yemeni workers employed abroad have provided much-needed income to their families back home. Since 2015 and the start of the civil war, Yemen’s domestic economy has been largely crippled, pushing the country’s residents to lean far more on these remittances sent from overseas. However, as the pandemic forced most countries into lockdown and propelled millions into unemployment, these direly needed finances are becoming increasingly sparse.

This, in conjunction with most UN participating countries facing budgetary constraints of their own due to COVID-19, makes for potential disaster.

Fortunately, the United States announced an additional $225 million in emergency aid to Yemen to support food programs, though much more will be needed from other nations in the international community.

Without more funding, many NGO officials fear the worst. “This means UNICEF will not be able to provide fuel to operate water pumping stations, or de-sludge sewage, or maintain crumbling water and sanitation infrastructure”, said Marixie Mercado, a spokesperson for UNICEF. “It means we will not be able to distribute basic family hygiene kits that include soap, which is so critical for preventing both cholera and COVID in a context where millions don’t have access to handwashing facilities.”

Every month, the UN and its partners are providing assistance to more than 10 million people across the country.

With a slew of other problems facing normal donating nations, the attention for aid is shifted elsewhere. Unfortunately, that will leave millions at risk, whittling the already thin thread that Yemen hangs by.