“Help Yemen now, or watch the country fall into the abyss”
United Nations Under-Secretary-General
The world’s largest humanitarian crisis has never been worse as Covid-19 has spread out of control. UN Humanitarian Coordinator of Yemen Lise Grande warns, “the death toll from the virus could exceed the combined toll of war, disease, and hunger over the last five years”. At an alarming 28.7%, Yemen currently holds the highest reported Covid-19 case-fatality rate worldwide; due to the scarcity of Covid-19 testing kits, the actual mortality risk could be exceedingly worse. With millions of poverty-stricken Yemenis already suffering from the long-term impacts of the unrelenting conflict, the emergence of Covid-19 further exacerbates the Yemeni people’s need for humanitarian aid.
The displacement of over 3.6 million Yemenis living in unsanitary and overcrowded sectors exponentially increases the risk of exposure. The lack of access to clean water and adequate living space have thwarted necessary public health preventative measures such as social distancing, wearing masks, and frequent hand-washing. Women and children are disproportionately at risk of contracting the virus as they comprise nearly 83% of the internally displaced Yemenis. Coupled with the high prevalence of acute malnutrition and communicable diseases amongst IDPs, the rate of contraction and transmission of the virus is exceedingly high.
Furthermore, years of unabated war have crumbled Yemen’s healthcare system. Ceaseless airstrikes have demolished countless hospitals and clinics across the country. Only half of the nation’s medical facilities remain functional and about two-thirds of the population lacks access to obtain treatment. Many of these facilities face shortages of the necessary medical supplies to manage the uncontrollable spread of the virus. Currently, Yemen only has 700 intensive care beds and 500 ventilators available in the entire country. Unless healthcare facilities receive more foreign aid, millions of Yemenis can potentially be left to suffer from the detrimental health effects of the virus on their own.
Yemen is on the brink of reaching the point of no return. Roughly 80 percent of the country’s population – 24 million people – are in need of humanitarian aid for survival, half of which are children. Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or lactating women suffer from acute malnutrition. 400,000 children are severely malnourished and are at risk of life-threatening complications. In addition to the worst famine the world has seen in 100 years, Yemen has been also plagued by the worst cholera outbreak in human history. The state of Yemen is frighteningly dire and the rise of Covid-19 creates an unprecedented emergency within the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Despite the atrocities of the conflict of Yemen reaching the global stage, the increasing need for humanitarian aid has reached an all time high. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that Yemen has only received 18 percent of the funding needed for this 2020. The Yemen pledging conference generated only 1.35 billion dollars in commitments, almost half of the 2.4 billion dollar goal set by the UN to sustain basic humanitarian operations. While UN agencies and aid operations have run out of financial resources, the people of Yemen are in need of help now more than ever. They now turn to us, their brothers and sisters in faith, as a last hope. While the world may turn its back, we must stand united and do all we can to contribute because the people of Yemen are running out of food, running out of resources, and running out of time.
-Ali
With the amazing generosity of our donors and fundraisers, Noor Orphans Fund has raised enough money to equip four coronavirus quarantine centres in Yemen. These centres will now be able to take care of people who show COVID-19 like symptoms.
The funds raised will go towards providing these centres with essential hygiene and medical items.
A thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping the Yemini people fight this disease in the midst of a war torn country.
Your donations have and will help in saving many Yemeni lives.
