The ongoing intense crisis in Yemen has left over 22.2 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. In February 2018, the United Nations approved to dispatch a special envoy Martin Griffiths to meet with the warring parties and arrive at a peace agreement. The Secretary General pointed out that the only way to negotiate a durable ceasefire and end the crisis will be through an intra-Yemeni dialogue.
The Saudi-led coalition military intervened for the first time after Houthi militias seized the power which initiated the conflict, worsening the country’s situation, which was already one of the poorest in the region.
The current situation has become unbearable for the civilians still living in the war zone. On Saturday, a series of missiles were launched by Houthi rebels towards different cities in Saudi Arabia including the capital Riyadh. These actions were strongly condemned by the United Nations at the beginning of this week saying that military escalation must end.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported this year that the fights have been particularly deadly for children, with thousands killed in heavy shelling and many more injured. The year 2017, has seen an outbreak of harmful illnesses such as Cholera or Diphtheria affecting nearly one million people, large amounts of whom have already died. Another UNICEF report has been able to verify that approximately 2,500 schools were no longer used for educational purposes as they were destroyed by war and the number of children without education has reached 2 million.
It is time now to think about the future and engage in sustainable solutions to get out of the destructive spiral of war.
For more informations please read:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/03/1005961
https://thedefensepost.com/2018/03/26/yemen-houthi-rebels-rally-after-missile-attacks/
https://www.unicef.org/yemen/media_12502.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/16/yemen-war-children-dead-injured-malnourished
