Islamic Relief has launched emergency operations to reach 700,000 people impacted by conflict in Yemen. Working in the worst affected areas, we will supply much-needed food, water and sanitation, as well as trauma and first aid kits.
An already devastating humanitarian situation in Yemen has deteriorated significantly amidst fighting. At least 600 people have so far been reported dead, 2,000 are injured and more than 100,000 have fled their homes.
“In the next couple of days fuel is set to run out, which will mean that people won’t be able to access food and water in the worst-affected areas and thousands of injured people are in dire need of medical equipment and treatment,” says Mohamed Salah Aldin, Country Director for Islamic Relief in Yemen.
“We urgently need to act before we have an acute humanitarian disaster on our hands. There is a massive need for medical supplies and clean water in Aden and our contacts on the ground are telling us there are huge queues of people everywhere desperate for water.”
Food distributions have already begun
Food distributions began yesterday in Sana’a and will continue into six other governorates. Every day, 200 families will receive flour, rice, sugar, beans, noodles, peas and cooking oil which normally last between two weeks and a month.
Mohamed Salah Aldin explains: “In the first phase of the programme, we will provide emergency aid with medical supplies, food and water and then we’ll move into a more long-term recovery response. The huge numbers of displaced people means that this crisis will only get worse. And we have to be in it for the long haul.”
One of the most food-insecure and water-scarce countries on the planet, Yemen has been gripped by crisis for years. Even before the latest conflict began, an estimated 15.9 million Yemenis – 61 per cent of the population – were in need of humanitarian aid.
Islamic Relief has been working in Yemen since 2004 and are working through offices run by local staff in Sa’dah, Hajja, Amran, Sana’a, Ma’rib and Dhamar.