The Yemen Crisis
The Main Organisations Addressing Poverty In The War-torn Country.
“Sana’a backstreet (Yemen)” by Ahron de Leeuw is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Yemen is a country in Western Asia infamous for its multilateral ongoing eight-year civil war, which has caused widespread civilian suffering. The war has deteriorated the Yemeni economy, resulting in food shortages and critical infrastructure damage. Poverty in Yemen has reached staggering levels, with an estimated 71% to 81% of the Yemeni population. This widespread poverty has cemented Yemen's reputation as one of the worst humanitarian health crises in modern history.
“The poverty is a mix of not having and not knowing this makes it very difficult as [the people are demoralised] and give up”, a football coach who resided in Yemen for four years relayed in a personal interview. The coach preferred to stay anonymous but described his experience teaching football to Yemeni children and university students as a tool to distract them from their impossible situation. He highlighted the unsanitary water systems which discouraged people from washing their fruit and vegetables as they could not afford drinking water.
Considering the catastrophic situation in Yemen, identifying the principal organisations and their actions to address poverty in the war-torn country is crucial.
1. Yemeni Government
Firstly, internally the Yemen government has developed a long-term Strategic Vision plan to try and transform the economy to a middle-income status by 2025. The governmental plan prioritises overcoming food and water shortages within the region. However, it also looks to increase agricultural and environmental protection. The governmental proposal, therefore, aims to reduce the percentage of those living below the poverty line and improve the living standards for individuals in all situations amidst the ongoing war.
2. UNICEF
A second prominent external organisation aiding Yemen is UNICEF. UNICEF works to protect children and women in Yemen. The organisation aims to help 2.5 million children and women access primary healthcare, provide safe drinking water and sanitation supplies to 3.6 million, and protect children and women against gender-based violence.
3. World Food Programme
One of the most significant organisations aiding Yemens development is the World Food Programme (WFP). 21.6 million people require humanitarian assistance in Yemen, and 17 million are food insecure. The WFP looks to provide 15 million people with emergency food supplies, either in the form of rations or money to aid in buying food provisions.
4. Islamic Relief Organisation
The Islamic Relief Organisation works alongside the WFP to distribute food across Yemen to 2 million people monthly. They additionally run more than 160 health facilities to ensure medical professionals have the resources to treat the sick and wounded and support and protect over 5 million children in Yemen.
Yemens Future
Although the aforementioned organisations are continually contributing to alleviating poverty in Yemen, this is only the beginning. The country has suffered severe damage from the ongoing eight-year war. Improving the economy, therefore, involves having political stability and security. Cessation of the war would allow for the revival of the social and economic structures, improving the livelihood of Yemenis. Until then, continual external and internal aid is necessary to support the development and mitigation of poverty within Yemen.
Sources:
Football Coach who lived in Yemen. (2023, May 15) Personal Communication [Personal Interview].
Islamic Relief Organisation. (2023) Yemen Crisis: https://islamic-relief.org/appeals/yemen-crisis/
UNESCWA. ( 2023) Yemen’s Strategic Vision: https://andp.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/Yemen%20Strategic%20Vision%202025.pdf
UNICEF. (2023) Yemen Crisis: https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/yemen/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmZejBhC_ARIsAGhCqneav1F6zHgvd9EtiIZKamKipvCNtgwLR6Ev9lqqDwl610A757npgQoaAgacEALw_wcB
World Bank. (2023) The World Bank In Yemen: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/yemen/overview
World Food Programme. (2023) Yemen Emergency: https://www.wfp.org/emergencies/yemen-emergency
Interview Notes:
Interviewer: Ruth Puddefoot
Interviewee: Football coach who lived and worked in Yemen for 4 years.
Interview Setting: The interview was carried out at 8:06PM on 19th May by phone.
Affiliation with interviewee: Family friend.
Additional Interview notes: English was not the interviewee’s first language, so slight alterations have been made for general comprehension.
[Start of Interview]
Ruth Puddefoot:
How long did you live in Yemen?
Interviewee:
Officially, I was in Yemen between 2001 and 2005. I went in the year 2000, for two months to do research and be there and try to see the situation. I went in the year 2001, with an attitude of being more permanent there. My plan was to stay longer than I did. But then it was not easy, you know, even to teach.
Ruth Puddefoot:
So you were there for four years?
Interviewee:
About four years? Yeah.
Ruth Puddefoot:
Okay, so how did you find the conditions in Yemen?
Interviewee:
People were very hospitable and very kind. Relationships are a priority. They like to talk and invite you to their homes even if they don’t have enough, they share what they have. And then the situation is, it was very poor. About 50% of the population was under 18, and there were a lot of families, they have a lot of children. And also because of the practice of the Islamic faith, they allow people to have more than one wife and then they have children with each wife. Also, another thing is that their illiteracy is quite high, I cannot remember I think probably probably also 50% of the people didn’t know how to read. It is not easy.
Ruth Puddefoot:
it was quite difficult?
Interviewee:
Yes. Although I dealt with people who were children in high school who went to school and university students. But still, many people didn’t know how to read. Time is not the problem people prioritise the relationship more than the time, and even if they don’t have time they prioritise spending time with you over learning. I remember I was asking for directions to go somewhere because I didn’t know how to get there and then I had to catch their buses. They have minibuses, and this man couldn’t explain to me how to get there. He came with me in the same minibus, paid the ticket took me to the place.
Ruth Puddefoot:
What were the surroundings like?
Interviewee:
Yes, it’s a land of mountains. Not much green like you have in England. Greenness is rare. There is some but also it needs watering, that is also a part of the problems they have. Even though they have the Red Sea there, and the Indian Ocean on the other side. I don’t know, the drinking water is a problem. It’s very hot, very warm, very dry. Then it’s very rocky. I remember even when they organise training with the children their land is very hard then the ball bounced quite high because even the soil is hard, seeing grass is very rare, I was in a place where there was grass also but that is one exception.
The lack of rain is because of the weather situation. It is like that, the area, the Arabian peninsula is like that. Also in Saudi Arabia not only Yemen. Kuwait and Oman they are all pieces of land with very warm weather and are very dry also. There are basically very few periods when the air is cold. I remember even in winter it is not cold, only in the evening a little. That is also a problem, the drinking water, we had to buy drinking water and we had shower water, but we couldn’t drink that water.
They washed the vegetables, they were quite dirty, and we had to wash them a few times. We had more because we were foreigners and we had more possibilities. But then the local people maybe don’t wash the vegetables because then you need to buy the water to do it and it’s more work also. Also, one of the things in those days, I remember that the average age for people who lived there was sixty years old. If people reached 60 they were very old.
Ruth Puddefoot:
So the life expectancy is quite low.
Interviewee:
Life expectancy. Yes. That’s also part of the issue. Because of them not eating in a very clean way.
Ruth Puddefoot:
Did you find that the children found football a good distraction?
Interviewee:
Of course, all over the world children like to play games, not only in Yemen. Also, the children there have to help their parents with their jobs in the house or sometimes the families have their shop. The children are asked to work also. It means that it is not easy, or it was not easy for a child to be totally a child.
Ruth Puddefoot:
So they have to grow up quite quickly?
Interviewee:
Because when I was there, I organised the football and the children came early, they came and knocked on my door every day. They came to pick me up from my house, basically, they were waiting for the football to begin.
Ruth Puddefoot:
They were waiting for you?
Interviewee:
They were waiting there, very anxious to start. Then I also organised with the university students who were much older, like 17 to 20. They saw what I was doing with the children that were younger, and they also said can you come and coach us.
For them, it was something new and also the families were happy that someone was helping. I didn’t charge any money for the children to play or get the bus. Basically, I put myself there to try to help them.
I went there to help, knowing that the situation is not very good and also they need help and because I loved the children and the people. The love of God moves me also to do this.
Ruth Puddefoot:
So in a previous chat we had you mentioned that it’s hard to hide the poverty in Yemen. Why do you think was? just because of the circumstance?
Interviewee:
It is very difficult that people aren’t seeing progress. The people were not all poor, but the majority were not rich.
Ruth Puddefoot:
It was very difficult to hide.
Interviewee:
The poverty is a mix of, not having and not knowing. This makes it very difficult as they are discouraged and give up.
Although, they were very respectful and open. There was a man who was a director of the Arabic language school where I also went to study and he said that it’s a pity you have to leave because we need people like you in our country.
Ruth Puddefoot:
Yeah, I guess that’s what’s difficult as they need people like you in the country, but a lot of people don’t go because of the conditions out there.
Interviewee:
In those days was less difficult than now. Now, it’s impossible. But those days were difficult. There were flights. I flew with airlines, and it was quiet, but it was also difficult to go there. I remember that when I wanted to stay there to get into the country you needed to have a test to check if you had certain illnesses, and they send you to the hospital. They take blood, I am speaking now more than 30 years ago but they tested to see if you have HIV.
Then if you if you had a positive test, and the test is not negative, you cannot stay. You take the test and after that, they allow you to stay there or they do not. I think that it’s interesting that the population was protected from illnesses. They didn’t want the people who were from abroad to take illnesses into the country. They were very strict but very well organised really in that sense.
Ruth Puddefoot:
Do you think that’s because they can’t they couldn’t afford to treat the people who were coming over with these illnesses?
Interviewee:
Probably, although I think because of aids they didn’t have any vaccination or anything in those days for treating it. It’s interesting.
Ruth Puddefoot:
Yeah, it’s interesting.
Interviewee:
I remember going to buy a chicken and they were all alive in a cage in the shop and the shopkeeper said what would you like medium big or small? Then I said I want a small one and then he killed the chicken before my eyes.
Ruth Puddefoot:
It’s very fresh.
Interviewee:
Very, when they give it to you it’s still warm. I think they do this because it’s cheaper, because of electricity, in the sense that they don’t need to refrigerate the meat and use electricity. They try to save money as much as possible. I am not saying that that is because of their saving money but a practical thing for them to do.
[End of the Interview]