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    Alan Macleod: Following US Pressure, Aid to Yemen Falls to Just 25 Cents Per Day Archived Message

    Posted by sashimi on October 8, 2020, 10:09 am

    (quote)
    Secretary of State Pompeo successfully pressured the UN to
    significantly cut back aid to one of the world's poorest countries,
    claiming it could fall into rebel hands.

    Home to what the United Nations has described as "the world's worst
    humanitarian crisis," Yemen is on the brink of total disaster after
    five years of protracted war. Yet crucial international aid to the
    country has been cut this year to just 25 cents per person, per day,
    around half of what was given in 2019. That money translates to just
    200 grams (less than half a pound) of beans, three eggs, or 200ml of
    cooking oil inside the country, where food prices are soaring.

    The aid has been channeled primarily through the United Nations. But
    the organization warns that what they received is less than half of
    what is necessary to supply clean water, food, shelter, and medicine
    to the 24 million people (80 percent of the population) who need
    humanitarian assistance.

    Much of the blame for the drop in aid can be placed at the door of the
    United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly pressuring
    the U.N. to scale back humanitarian assistance to the country in an
    attempt to starve the rebels of aid. In March, Pompeo traveled to
    U.N. headquarters to meet with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to
    make his case.

    Oxfam's Yemen Country Director, Muhsin Siddiquey, pleaded with the
    international community to do more to help the country. "While the
    economic fallout unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every
    corner of the globe, in Yemen millions are on the brink of
    starvation. Yemenis cannot afford aid to be cut, people need more help
    to survive, not less," he said.

    Cashing in on a crisis
    Furthermore, the countries that have contributed the most in aid - the
    United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab
    Emirates - are the very same ones directing the onslaught against
    Yemen, with Saudi and Emirati troops leading the fight, supported by
    British and American arms sales and political cover. Saudi Arabia, for
    example, is responsible for 49 percent of all weapons purchases, while
    it has committed to buying $350 billion worth of U.S. arms in the
    coming years. This economic power has allowed the four to play
    politics with international aid, directing to groups that allow them
    to advance their agenda instead of where it is needed most.

    "Countries should stop cashing in on this appalling humanitarian
    crisis and instead put people's lives above arms manufacturers'
    profit," Siddiquey said. "The Yemenis who've had to flee their homes,
    go without food and clean water, and endure outbreaks of disease need
    a nationwide ceasefire and inclusive peace talks to end this war so
    they can rebuild their lives."

    The World Bank has warned of a "famine of biblical proportions," with
    over 20 million people also lacking access to clean water. Because of
    the lack of funds, the U.N. has had to reduce services at 300 health
    and food distribution centers across Yemen. These sites are already in
    short supply, as the Saudi-led coalition intentionally targets their
    Yemeni counterparts, attacking water or medical facilities once every
    ten days on average since the war began in 2014.

    Two-thirds of all districts in the country are already pre-famine, the
    U.N. explains, and one-third face a convergence of multiple acute
    vulnerabilities. These include deadly outbreaks of cholera and
    COVID-19. Officially, the country has seen only 2,047 COVID-19 cases
    and cholera numbers have dropped from last year. But, as Oxfam warned,
    these low figures do not show that the country has the epidemics under
    control. Quite the opposite: it shows their embattled health systems
    have been completely overwhelmed and are unable to record the
    devastation wrought.

    From Arab Spring to Abraham Accord
    While the conflict has its origins in the 2011 Arab Spring, the war
    officially began three years later, when armed Shia Houthi rebels rose
    up against what they saw as a corrupt and undemocratic government led
    by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Hadi initially fled the country but was
    given strong support by Saudi Arabia, other Gulf monarchies, and
    Western powers, who accused Iran of arming and funding the
    Houthis. However, without many boots on the ground, they have been
    unable to dislodge the Houthis from their strongholds in the populous
    south and west of the country, preferring to bomb the country from
    above. While the official death toll of the war stands at over
    100,000, most believe this is a serious underestimate.

    Unfortunately, the war is unlikely to cool down in the foreseeable
    future. The recently signed Abraham Accord between Bahrain, the
    U.A.E., and Israel, for example, allows for the transfer of high-tech
    American and Israeli weaponry to the Gulf states, who will doubtless
    be keen to use it in Yemen.

    "The U.A.E. is one of the central protagonists in the cataclysmic war
    of aggression against Yemen," Greg Shupak of the University of Guelph,
    Ontario, told MintPress. "So there is a strong possibility that it
    will unleash these killing machines on the impoverished Yemeni
    population that it has already done so much to devastate... Likewise,
    increased intelligence sharing between Israel and the U.A.E. could
    entail Israel helping the U.A.E. having more, and possibly more
    advanced, information that it can use to maim and kill Yemenis."

    Despite promising to draw down its role in the conflict, Sudan is
    sending hundreds of more troops to the country via Saudi Arabia. A
    foreign ministry spokesperson also recently revealed that the country
    is in talks with Israel to normalize relations. Saudi Arabia has also
    recently begun building a military base in the Hawf nature reserve in
    eastern Yemen, a crucial oasis in the largely arid country. As always,
    there appears to be plenty of money for weapons, but not enough for
    crucial humanitarian aid.
    (/quote)
    -- https://www.mintpressnews.com/following-us-pressure-un-yemen-aid-falls-2020/271810/

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