Here are some facts about Yemen. They portray a country in worse shape than Syria, facts that are hard to accept, but still the reality, and a reality we ought to remember because so many lives are affected.
<>OCHA (the office of coordination of human affairs) calls it the world’s largest food insecurity emergency
<>17 million are food insecure. 6.8 million are severely food insecure and 2 million children are acutely food insecure. (The total population is 27.4 million)
<>It would cost 2 billion dollars to bring food aid
<>The civil war began around March 2015 and as of December 31, 2016 it is estimated there have been 48,000 casualties
<>Damage to public and private infrastructure makes it difficult to know, gather data and of course deliver aid
<>73% of Yemenis are living with host families. 20% in collective or spontaneous settlements
<>Substantial number live in houses damaged by the war unable to afford repairs
<>The economy is destroyed and liquidity is a problem
<>1.25 million state employees with their dependents making up some 30% of the country sporadically get paid or don’t get paid at all.
<>The central banks had 4.7 billion reserve in 2014, it’s now less than 1 billion $