Islamic Relief renews calls for world leaders to provide aid to Yemen

On the ground, in Yemen, as the country enters the fifth year of fighting, Islamic Relief has renewed calls for world leaders to act to end the suffering.

Already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East before the conflict escalated in March 2015, Yemen is now widely seen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Extreme hunger is commonplace and many live in the shadow of starvation. Water is scarce. Basic but essential services have all but broken down. Livelihoods lie in ruins and children are growing up without access to formal education.

“For the last four years, the people of Yemen have been held hostage to bombs, bullets and been forced to endure a near total collapse of basic services such as health and sanitation which have claimed tens of thousands of lives,” says Islamic Relief’s head of mission in Yemen, Muhammad Zulqarnain Abbas.

In one province after another, schools, factories, hospitals and farms have been destroyed. Some rural communities have for years been cut off from the outside world. The capital, Sanaa, has been repeatedly bombed and shelled. Roadblocks and restrictions in Taiz have pushed food prices to dangerous highs, whilst the sounds of battle have become the backdrop to life in Hodeida, where civilians fear the fragile ceasefire may not hold.

Islamic Relief has been working in Yemen for over 20 years and has continued its lifesaving work on the ground throughout the catastrophic conflict. With offices in Sanaa, Hodeida, Sa’ada, Amran, Raymah, Aden, Marib, Dhamar and Taiz, IR  staff and volunteers provide critical humanitarian aid, often at great personal risk.

“After four years of war, an estimated 24 million people need humanitarian aid or protection – including a staggering ten million people are at risk of starvation. These are big numbers, almost impossible to comprehend,” adds the Yemen head of mission, Muhammad Zulqarnain Abbas.

Islamic Relief is determined to carry on doing everything to ease the suffering in Yemen and recently pledged to spend $7.6 million on humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country. However, this is a fraction of what is needed so the organization is renewing calls for world leaders to provide aid to Yemen – and to bring about a total ceasefire and peace talks that end this devastating crisis.

Original source: Islamic Relief
Published on 25 March 2019