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Superlatives are not enough to describe the suffering of the Yemenis. This is the worst humanitarian crisis right now. This becomes painfully clear when we see a toddler with the weight of a newborn. A country at war where countless lives are at stake every day due to bloody attacks and shortages of water and food. 

In 2015, fighting broke out between rebels and government forces. Now, several years later, Yemen is experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Not only are more than four million people displaced, ten million people are on the brink of starvation, nearly twenty million people have no access to clean drinking water and there is a cholera epidemic.
 

In 2015, other countries joined the conflict and the situation only became more complex. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Sunni countries that support the incumbent president. Iran supports the Houthi rebels. A separatist movement is active in southern Yemen and receives support from the United Arab Emirates. In the chaos and power vacuum, Al Qaeda and IS have seized the opportunity to establish themselves. All parties are guilty of human rights violations.
 

It is now a complicated conflict with many parties, with a militarily stalemate. Yemen is being crushed in all this geopolitical violence.

The blockade of ports and airports is used as a means of pressure, which means that sometimes all imports come to a standstill for months, including the import of food and other humanitarian goods.

 

ZOA's work in Yemen is complex and certainly not without danger.
And yet ZOA wants to be here too. Despite the enormous challenges they face,
they are there for loved ones in need.