In desperate times, hope can often be found in the most unlikely places. After years of bombardment by a Saudi-led coalition, backed by several western governments, Yemen is stricken by a famine described by the UN as the “worst humanitarian crisis” on earth. In such a moral vacuum, it is often the most unlikely voices that strike a chord, and few could meet this description better than nine-year-old Hamza Hakim Almasmari. On October 1, Almasmari took to social media, posting a video with the hashtag “#FastActionForYemen.”
Almasmari, asks people to skip one meal a day and post a picture of their empty plate on social media alongside the hashtag, in solidarity with those starving in Yemen.
Almasmari, asks people to skip one meal a day and post a picture of their empty plate on social media alongside the hashtag, in solidarity with those starving in Yemen. Twitter users have circulated the video widely, often tagging political leaders in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Almasmari kicked off the campaign on his ninth birthday, and it has since been shared by prominent rights organizations such as Change.org and Codepink.
Nine year old Hamza Hakim Almasmari in his YouTube Video #FastActionForYemen
The Saudi-led coalition attacked Yemen in 2015 after Houthi rebels ousted the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in Sanaa. Even before the war, Yemen was the poorest country in the region, but the war has made matters immeasurably worse. Since 2015, the coalition airstrikes and violence has continued relentlessly, causing a famine that has been described as the worst on earth for a century.
According to the UN, more than 24 million of Yemen’s 27 million people require humanitarian assistance and food aid, with 10 million of them close to starvation. More than three million have been displaced, and two million children cannot go to school. The country’s infrastructure has been largely destroyed resulting in a lack of clean potable water in many parts, leading to cholera, dengue, and other waterborne illnesses, and the inability of the population to get to the few health facilities that remain operational.
While the situation in Yemen is already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the UN has said that the crisis could get even worse as a result of the closure of many aid programs due to the lack of funds. Some 22 programs have either been shut down or are at risk of being cancelled. As a result, around 19 million people are set to lose access to healthcare and a further 5 million may lose access to running water by the end of October.
“The UN was forced to suspend most of Yemen’s vaccination campaigns in May, and the procurement of medicines has stopped and thousands of health workers are no longer receiving financial support,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said. “Without new funding, food rations to 12 million people may be reduced, including aid to at least 2.5 million malnourished Yemeni children that have been ‘keeping them alive,’” he added.
Yet amid this horror, the worst may be yet to come for the people of Yemen. It is in this context that Hamza Hakim Almasmari and others like him are speaking out.
Yet amid this horror, the worst may be yet to come for the people of Yemen. It is in this context that Hamza Hakim Almasmari and others like him are speaking out.
In his video, an emotional Almasmari says he regularly sees people, including children, eating out of the trash. He is calling for the world to share his hashtag and donate to organizations providing aid to Yemen. In February, international donors pledged $2.6 billion to alleviate the crisis in the country, yet, according to a statement by the UN in August, less than half of those funds had been received.
“Can you believe that in Yemen, every ten minutes, a child like me dies from hunger?,” asks Almasmari.
Save the Children has said that up to 85,000 children under the age of five may have died due to malnutrition and disease since the beginning of the war. The UN has pledged to broker peace on a number of occasions, but has failed to do so.
Blame for the closure of key aid programs also lies with the two main perpetrators of the violence in Yemen: the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Both have failed to provide key donations of around $1.5 billion promised at a fundraiser in February this year. To date, Abu Dhabi has paid only $16 million and Riyadh only $127 million towards that sum.
In this Oct. 1, 2018 photo a malnourished boy sits on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center Hajjah Yemen. (AP Photo Hani Mohammed)
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that, as a result of the failure of donors to follow through on their promises, food services for up to 12 million Yemenis may be discontinued.
“Essential programs are now closing down. You heard last month about vaccination campaigns, supplies for health facilities and cholera prevention programs that had been cancelled. These cuts are now much deeper,” said the UN’s deputy aid chief Ursula Mueller in August. The UN has shelved plans for some 30 feeding centers, 14 shelters, and four mental health clinics. Irrigation and water purification programs have also been shut down, with a devastating effect on farming.
As a “justification” for holding back the money, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have said they do not wish any aid money they provide to fall into the hands of the Houthi rebels they are fighting.
As a “justification” for holding back the money, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have said they do not wish any aid money they provide to fall into the hands of the Houthi rebels they are fighting.
While actions such as those of nine-year old Hamza Hakim Almasmari are inspiring, they reveal the abject failure of the international community to act to end the horrific crisis in Yemen. Many thousands more will die, and millions are already living miserable lives because of that failure.
