The failure of the Trump administration to end the civil war in Yemen is threatening millions with starvation. As citizens we must hold our government accountable to do more and prevent this tragedy.
The directors of five humanitarian organizations just issued a statement warning “14 million people are at risk of starving to death in Yemen” and that “countless Yemenis are unlikely to live through the winter, unless the parties to the conflict immediately cease hostilities.”
The leaders of Save the Children, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam America, CARE US and Norwegian Refugee Council USA signed the joint letter. They are calling on the U.S. to exert diplomatic pressure to end Yemen’s war between a Saudi Arabia led coalition and the Houthi rebels. That means first stopping all U.S. military support of the Saudis, which has prolonged the war.
The humanitarian agencies plead: “It pains us to write these words, but we cannot escape the truth: if the U.S. does not cease its military support for the Saudi/UAE coalition, it too, will bear responsibility for what may be the largest famine in decades.”
The fighting has destroyed food production and agriculture. Military forces have blockaded key ports and roads that humanitarian agencies need to move supplies. If this continues more people won’t be able to receive the aid they desperately need.
David Beasley, the UN World Food Program director, just returned from Yemen describing it as “the stuff of nightmares.” Children are dying from malnutrition in Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate.
“My heart is breaking after what I saw at the hospital in Hodeidah,” says Beasley. “Small children, so malnourished they’re little more than skin and bone, lying there with hardly the strength to breathe. In the name of humanity, I urge all warring parties to put an end to this horrific war. Let the children live and let the people start to rebuild their lives.”
According to new analysis by Save the Children “an estimated 85,000 children under five may have died from extreme hunger or disease since the war in Yemen escalated.”
A Rhode Island non-profit called Edesia has been producing a peanut paste called Plumpy’Sup to send to Yemen. This enriched food is distributed by the World Food Program to save children from the deadly malnutrition. But so much more is needed with millions at risk. There must be an immediate ceasefire between the Saudi coalition and the Houthis to allow more supplies to be distributed safely.
The World Food Program and partner agencies have been scaling up the mission in Yemen to meet the fast increasing needs. This requires a lot of funding and we have to remember there are many other emergencies ongoing too. South Sudan, Afghanistan, the Sahel of Africa, Ethiopia, Syria, and Central African Republic are reeling from hunger, war and drought.
The U.S. should escalate the diplomatic effort as well as funding for the Food for Peace program. This initiative, started by President Dwight Eisenhower, feeds hungry people around the globe. Food for Peace is supporting the World Food Program in feeding Yemen, but many more resources are needed.
Trump sadly called for eliminating Food for Peace and reducing aid funding earlier this year in the budget. Congress luckily has maintained food aid and can take the lead on increasing funds going forward. It’s clear we should be doing a lot more with Food for Peace for Yemen, and a lot less in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Every citizen can pressure government leaders to end the war in Yemen. We can all do more to help the humanitarian agencies who are on the frontlines of hunger in a war zone. We can still save Yemen from mass starvation. But we must act now.
The World Food Program has a Yemen appeal page at wfp.org/Yemen and so does Save the Children at savethechildren.org/Yemen
William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the New York Times, History News Network, The Hill, Newsweek and many other media outlets.
