

NRC’s appeal to the parties of the conflict in Aden and Sana’a, as well as to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to Iran and to Western powers like the USA and UK, is the following:

“Do not bring further fuel to this fire. We need you to agree to a ceasefire, serious peace talks and urgent relief for 19 million Yemenis in need. This month, humanitarian efforts led by the World Food Programme, can only afford to feed 3 of the 7 million Yemenis on the brink of famine. The heroic relief workers in Yemen are acutely underfunded, and local military and political authorities are preventing access to many communities in need,” said Egeland.

Commercial food imports have reached an all-time low, driving the price of basic commodities to rise on average by a third. Sixty per cent of people are food insecure and nearly 7 million do not know where their next meal will come from.

This makes Yemen the largest food security crisis in the world.

An aid worker told me the fear and desperation among civilians is now so great that mothers with acutely undernourished children grab their kids from hospital beds when they hear the war planes flying over.

During his visit, Egeland met with families affected by the conflict, humanitarian partners and authorities. “I met teachers, health workers, engineers and other civil servants that have not been paid for 8 months and who now struggle to survive,” he said. “The development agencies must be able to keep the public sector functioning to prevent an explosion of epidemic diseases and illiteracy. This strangulation of an entire civilian population on both sides of the frontline cannot be allowed to continue.”