Helping victims of latest Yemen conflict
Islamic Help has launched an emergency aid programme for victims of the latest conflict which has brought Yemen, in the words of the United Nations, to the edge of civil war.
The President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, was forced to flee the capital Sana’a as a result of the fighting between his forces and Shia Houthi rebels.
Divisions within the security forces, the presence of Al Qaida and Islamic State factions, and aerial strikes by an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia against Houthi positions have further complicated what was already a dire humanitarian situation.
Islamic Help teams have been visiting hospitals in the capital Sana’a and surrounding areas, and interviewed dozens of families who have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict in preparation for the aid programme.
According to the UN, more than 500 people have been killed in the last two weeks and thousands displaced. An Islamic Help team which visited Al-Thawra Hospital in the capital Sana’a said the facility had been overwhelmed with patients and desperately needed resources to maintain its medical supplies, ambulances and electricity grid.
Displaced families voiced their fears to the team about food and water supplies and concerns that thousands more would flee their homes as the violence continued.
Ahlam Al Mutwakel, Islamic Help’s Yemen Country Manager, said they were planning to distribute aid, when it became possible, including food essentials (hygiene, shelter and cooking facilities) to displaced households and their hosts, as well as medicines and supplies to public hospitals in major cities.
“In response to the growing needs of host communities and blockaded areas, Islamic Help reached out to its network of regional offices and fellow humanitarian agencies to provide rapid humanitarian relief. Additionally Islamic Help is providing aid to hospitals which have been overwhelmed by the influx of patients from the conflict.”
