Credit: Wikipedia Commons Public Domain /   Yemeni capital Sanaa after airstrikes, 9 October 2015  “This neighborhood, where more than 100 buildings have been damaged, has brought attention to the plight of Yemeni blacks, with neighboring communities coming to witness the damage.  (Almigdad Mojalli/VOA)”. 

By Gary Raynaldo        DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK –  Long before the deadly COVID-19 pandemic swept over the globe, Yemen had the dubious distinction of being the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.  Nearly 80 per cent of the total population, some 24.1 million people, require some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, according to the  UN. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to deepen suffering in Yemen, now is the time for rival parties to commit to ending their conflict, UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Thursday, during an informal meeting via videoconference. 

“Yemen cannot face two fronts at the same time: a war and a pandemic. And the new battle that Yemen faces in confronting the virus will be all-consuming. We can do no less than stop this war and turn all our attention to this new threat”.’

-UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths

Credit:  osesgy.unmissions.org / The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths.

Yemeni Government forces, together with their allies, and rebels known as Houthis, or the Ansar Allah movement, have been fighting over control of the impoverished nation for more than five years, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

COVID-19 in Yemen – A Perfect Storm

-War-torn Country’s Shattered Health Care System Is No Match for Pandemic

“As if Yemen’s protracted armed conflict and humanitarian crisis were not enough, COVID-19 presents an imminent danger that further threatens the country’s people,” writes Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher, Middle East Division, of Human Rights Watch.

“Even though only one case of COVID-19 has been reported in Yemen, an outbreak seems inevitable as cases in surrounding countries continue to rise and Yemen’s health care system remains in tatters from the war. Unlike airstrikes and bombardment, COVID-19 casualties will be even more difficult to control.”- Afrah Nasser. 

UN Pleads For Ceasefire In Yemen Conflict 

 “The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic to Yemen threatens to bring deeper and more widespread suffering to the people. There cannot be a more timely moment for the two parties to commit to silencing the guns and ending the conflict through a peaceful, political solution”.

-UN Special Envoy  Martin Griffiths