Attachments
Health Care Under Attack in Yemen in 2023 Despite Unofficial Truce
GENEVA – Attacks on health care continued to take place in Yemen in 2023, according to the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, coming under attack at least 47 times. These incidents took place despite overall conflict-related violence being at its lowest intensity yet seen during the war, which reflected the continuation of an unofficial truce, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. However, violence persisted, particularly in western governorates like Ta’izz, Sadah, and Al Hudaydah. The Houthis remained a dominant force, controlling significant portions of Yemen and its population. Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition and the West Coast Joint Forces continued, as did violence from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), mainly in southern Yemen. The Southern Transitional Council (STC), supported by the UAE, also conducted airstrikes
The report, available in English and Arabic, details health facilities being occupied, raided, or damaged by drone-delivered explosive weapons, and ambulances affected by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Houthis' increasing use of drones armed with explosives had a particularly harmful impact on the health sector. According to the Coalition, the main perpetrators of attacks on health care in Yemen in 2023 were the Houthi rebels. Members of AQAP and the Giants Brigade militia were also implicated, though less frequently.
Despite the apparent effects of the truce, the humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate, with a concerning increase in the number of violations. Since the beginning of 2024, Mwatana for Human Rights researchers have documented numerous violations, including, attacks on and use of schools and hospitals, denial of access to humanitarian aid, incidents of sexual violence, forced displacement, explosive objects, use of mines and drone attacks, restrictions on civic space, enforced disappearance, arbitrary; detention, recruitment of children, use of live bullets and ramming and use of military vehicles.
Attacks on health care, combined with broader violence, have severely impacted Yemen's health system. Health expenditure is among the lowest globally, and many facilities are only partially functioning or non-functional due to insufficient resources. The political division of Yemen has further fragmented the health care system, limiting official reporting and governance. Consequently, many people are unable to access or afford essential treatment, with widespread malnutrition and untreated injuries, particularly among vulnerable populations like women and children.
Among the report’s recommendations are:
- The International Criminal Court and national courts, through principles of universal jurisdiction, should, at long last, initiate prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity involving attacks on the wounded and sick and on health facilities.
- Governments should cease arms transfers to parties to conflict that engage in grave breaches of international humanitarian law.
- Ministers of Health should engage with their own military and security forces and armed groups to protect health care from violence and strengthen mechanisms to mitigate the impacts of attacks on communities, health workers, and the health system.
- Regional bodies and the UN humanitarian cluster system should expand initiatives to protect health care in conflict and mitigate the impact of violence against it.
In its 11th annual report, Critical Condition: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict, the coalition documented 2562 incidents in conflicts across 30 countries, or regions within countries, or territories in 2023, a 25% increase from 2022, representing 500 more attacks than documented last year, and the highest ever since the Coalition began reporting “Violence against health care reached appalling levels in 2023, said Leonard Rubenstein, Chair of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) comprising more than 40 nongovernmental organisations. “Whether a product of recklessness, indifference, or intentional targeting, fighting forces’ contempt for the law brought catastrophic harm to those in need of care and the health workers and systems intending to aid them. The world fails to ensure accountability for this violence at its peril.”
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The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition is a group of more than 40 organisations working to protect health workers and services threatened by war and civil unrest. It has raised awareness of global attacks on health and pressed United Nations agencies for greater global action to protect the security of health care. The SHCC monitors attacks, strengthens universal norms of respect for the right to health, and demands accountability for perpetrators.