The UN will launch its new humanitarian plan for Yemen in Geneva on Wednesday 8 February.
UK Government’s ‘calculated complicity’ risks Yemen slipping into famine says Oxfam.
Two years of war have brought Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the world, to breaking point. More than 3.3 million million people in Yemen are malnourished and 19 million people need some form of humanitarian aid.
Oxfam today issued a stinging condemnation of widespread political complicity in the Yemen conflict as the UN launches its latest plan to help millions of people caught up in the crisis.
Kirsty Davies-Warner, Head of Oxfam Cymru said:
“The UK Government’s calculated complicity risks accelerating Yemen towards a famine, putting millions of lives at risk and making a mockery of their global obligations to those in peril.
“The UK is not alone. Many governments have weighed their narrow national interests in the Middle East against humanity, and humanity has lost. Backers of both sides of a war, that has created one of the world’s worse humanitarian crises, need to stop fuelling the conflict and instead help find a peaceful settlement.
“But there is still time to avert a famine, to save lives and to help put lives back together. That means swiftly and fully funding the latest UN plan for Yemen.
“Aid will help enormously but an ‘aid-alone’ approach is insufficient. What is also needed is an end to the fighting, the bombing, and the reckless use of force where civilians are living. Diplomatic efforts must be intensified to bring about an immediate ceasefire.”
ENDS