Mass famine looms in Yemen – and the international community is standing by
A pledging conference organised by the UN raised less than half the sum required to avert famine in “the most fragile state in the world”.
Famine has threatened the country since at least 2016, around two years after the civil war broke out between government forces and Houthi rebels. A coalition of external forces, led by Saudi Arabia, has been intervening in aid of the government since 2015, supported by Western powers, in particular the US and UK.
But the effects of the coronavirus pandemic may have exacerbated a slide towards severe famine, with Covid-19 putting a minimally resourced medical system under increased pressure, and slowing economies and border closures across the world limiting remittances from Yemenis working abroad. Sixteen million people, half of Yemen’s population, are going hungry, the UN estimates. Eighty per cent of the country’s population are in need of humanitarian aid, including more than 12 million children, according to Unicef, a UN agency.