My recent interview with Jennifer Mizgata of the World Food Programme details the hunger crisis throughout Yemen. More grim findings have been revealed today.
According to a report released by SEYAJ children's rights organisation and the UN Children's Fund, there have been 187 children killed since August in the conflict in north Yemen between government forces and rebels.
The report also found "73,926 displaced children present in the provinces of Saada and Amran." Of those children 42 percent suffered from malnutrition, 25 percent from respiratory infections and 19 percent from skin diseases. Only three percent of those children have access to education in the two provinces.
This report calls for "an increase in humanitarian aid to displaced people, for all parties to ensure safe passage for aid convoys, and for ways to be found to grant children access to health and educational services."
Today, the Pentagon approved 150 million in military assistance to Yemen so it can fight the Al-Qaida presence in the country. But if the United States and others truly want a strong Yemen, they cannot brush the hunger crisis under the rug. Food assistance is also essential to save Yemen.
What can you do? Contact your representatives in government. Ask them to get involved with this issue. You can also take direct action yourself. You can contact the World Food Programme and the Friends of the World Food Program about donating to help alleviate food shortages in Yemen.
Click here to listen to Josette Sheeran, director of the World Food Programme, discussing that the fight against hunger is not just a humanitarian issue, but one of national security. Yemen clearly falls into this category as do Afghanistan and so many other nations. It is time that foreign policy goals are more strongly oriented toward fighting hunger.
photo courtesy WFP/Jennifer Mizgata
Audio clip from the Center for Strategic and International Studies and University of Miami Knight Center.
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