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Grande is on a quick visit to Stockholm for a meeting. The Swedish Foreign Ministry has for some time assumed responsibility for coordinating international relief efforts in Yemen, which are hampered by the ongoing war and the unwillingness of the warring parties to allow access to the areas. affected.
UN Large Ombudsman She cannot hide that she is angry and frustrated. The anger stems from the passivity of the international community. Many of Yemen’s 30 million people have been affected by a severe famine bordering on famine, a situation exacerbated by the establishment of the corona pandemic in the country.
– Yemen is currently experiencing probably the darkest period in the country’s history. Four out of every five Yemenis need some form of outside help to cope with life. No country in the world is so dependent on aid. A third of the population wakes up in the morning and is hungry. They don’t know where their next meal will come from, says Lise Grande and continues:
– They are capable people, they could support themselves if their lives were not dominated by war. But right now, many have nowhere else to turn than the UN or voluntary aid organizations to get food for the day.
But humanitarian aid is not enough for the moment, not in the long term. Because when cash aid should go up, it has fallen dramatically instead, says Lise Grande.
Lisa Grande comes from the United States, but for the last 25 years she has worked for the UN and other aid organizations in various hotspots: southern Sudan, Iraq, Congo, among others. “But Yemen is the worst I have ever experienced,” he said.
Photo: Roger Turesson
Begining of June The UN held a so-called donor conference on Yemen, addressed to the 193 member states of the world organization. UN Secretary General António Guterres highlighted the dire situation in Yemen and the great need for help to keep the threat of famine and the health crisis at bay. The goal was to raise $ 2.4 billion, but the outside world has so far contributed only half.
Lise Grande brings statistics to Stockholm showing that all donor countries reduced their aid to Yemen during the year. Previously generous countries like the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have completely stopped their Yemeni aid this year. And Saudi Arabia, which donated more than $ 1 billion last year, has cut its contribution by two-thirds this year.
Why has it become like this? Lise Grande is reluctant to speculate: “I work with humanitarian issues, not political.” But Yemeni diplomats and experts point to several reasons: on the one hand, the fall in the price of oil on the world market, which means that oil-producing countries no longer feel they can afford to be generous. Second, that the United States under President Donald Trump did not influence its allies in the Persian Gulf to pay for the aid.
Photo: Xinhua
The consequences of that The reduction in cash flow has been quickly and brutally noticed in relief work, says Lise Grande:
– The UN has so far carried out 41 aid projects in Yemen. It’s about things like hospitals, waterworks, schools, children’s health care. In a short time, we have been forced to close or cut 16 of these projects.
And if no more money comes in before the turn of the year – Lisa Grande mentions $ 500 million (just over four billion crowns) – more than half of the projects will stop.
It is a known fact that aid has struggled to reach those in need in Yemen. All actors in the conflict – the Houthis who control the capital, Sanaa, government forces and the separatist group Southern Transitional Council – have made it difficult for aid organizations to do their job.
Lise Grande comes from the United States but has spent the last 25 years in various hotspots around the world, serving the United Nations. “I have been to Congo, South Sudan and Iraq, but I have never seen suffering like that among the civilian population in Yemen.”
Photo: Roger Turesson
This is confirmed by Lise Grande. But he also notes that the UN presence has meant that Yemen has been able to tame both cholera and drought.
– Three years ago, Yemen suffered the worst cholera epidemic in modern times. But we managed to control the cholera. Two years ago a drought disaster happened, we were also able to overcome it thanks to having sufficient resources. But now the drought hits again, until the covid-19 pandemic. If we don’t get enough money, people will die, says Lise Grande.
Officially, Yemen is mildly affected by the corona pandemic: statistics show that more than 2,000 people have been infected and there have been just over 600 deaths. But all observers seem to agree that the real numbers are much higher: According to foreign experts, up to a million people may be infected with the coronavirus in Yemen.
– We are probably talking about one of the worst covid-19 outbreaks in the world, says Lise Grande.
Read more:
Study: half of young people in the Arab world want to emigrate
Increase in missile attacks in Yemen war: Houthis attack oil terminals in Saudi Arabia
The infection compounds the famine disaster in Yemen: Salwa, 5, was dying, weighed like a newborn baby
