Two years after the UNICEF and the World Food Program classified 40% of Yemen population as food risk, a senior United Nations relief officials is painting a gruesome picture, warning that aid relief is no where near where it should be, so much so that Yemen's humanitarian crisis is now endangering political stability.
When the Arab Spring movement engulfed Yemen, the poorest nation of the Arabian Peninsula is a revolutionary whirlwind, little did Yemeni realize they would unravel through their calls for reforms and social justice, the very fabric of the nation, laying waste its institutions and with that its economy and relative financial stability.
Over the past two years Yemen has been on life support, barely keeping its head above water as its officials have resorted to asking the international community's hand-outs to keep the government locomotive moving.
On Thursday Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen made clear in Geneva on Thursday that "“There will be no political transition if we don't deal with the humanitarian situation." He added that indeed "the worsening humanitarian situation could destabilize the country's gains on the political front."
Despite having raised over $6 billion at 2012 Yemen Donors' Conference, Yemen coalition government has failed to address the country most immediate food crisis.
According to the Humanitarian Coordinator, 10 million people in Yemen are in need of food aid, of which about 5 million are faced with acute food shortage; 6 million people do not have access to health care; and 1 million children are facing malnutrition, with some 150,000 of them facing the risk of death due to acute malnutrition.
Medical staff in Sana'a, the capital know only too well what ravage malnutrition is having on the most vulnerable, leaving young children stunt and disabled for their tiny bodies were denied basic nutrients. With tens of thousands of families unable to meet their children' most basic food requirements, political analysts are saying that the revolution of the hungry President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi prophesied against in 2012, could still come to pass.
Worse yet, thousands more desperate young men could find themselves ensnare by terror groups, attracted by a stable income and the promise that should anything happen to them their family would be taken care of. Al-Qaeda has already been accused of targeting poor rural communities, for they are facing most economic hardship and therefore represent an easy target for terror recruiters.
The fact that al-Qaeda has chosen to established its most active cells in Yemen southern territories is no coincidence, it is rather a tactical and conscience choice. Poor tribal Yemen is both geographically and economically ideal for terror militants, offering the group natural hideouts and a vast recruitment pool.
To make mattes worse, Yemen is still grappling with its IDPs problem (Internally Displaced People). According the the UN's latest data, there are still 340,000 IDPs in Yemen. While the UN has been actively working with both the government and local NGOs to facilitate IDPs return, a lack of infrastructures and instability has been hindering progress, leaving a section of Yemen population very vulnerable.
The international humanitarian community has sought $716 million for the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan to provide emergency and early recovery assistance to 7.7 million of the country's most vulnerable. However, the plan is so far only 28 per cent funded. “We are still in need of major assistance if we would like to deal with this situation, which as I said, in my view, is quite dramatic,” said Ould Cheikh Ahmed in Geneva.
As per provisioned by Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) the UN will seek to promote food security by "Increasing the resilience of communities by improving their capacity to produce food sustainably is indispensable to address some of the root
causes of the food insecurity situation, and counterbalance, somewhat, the impact of volatile food prices, and to envision a possible decrease in future food assistance."
Ould Cheikh Ahmed explained that "humanitarian agencies would like to provide water and sanitation for 3 million people inside Yemen; food for over 7 million; and health care services for 4.2 million. The state of malnutrition is extremely grave."
In addition, agencies are aiming to assist 622,000 children to receive education and provide services for 1.4 million people in terms of protection services, including 500,000 children.
It is quite clear that Yemen is quickly drowning under the weight of its humanitarian crisis. Unless officials come to grasp with the sheer danger hunger and poverty represents in terms of political stability, Yemen could see its efforts to preserve national unity foiled by famine.
One has only look east at Somalia to see what extreme poverty and a humanitarian catastrophe can do to one's nation.
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