Nødhjælpsmedarbejdere beretter, at Yemen er på randen af en humanitær katastrofe. Mens behovet for nødhjælp stiger, bliver det sværere at få hjælpen frem. Det skriver IRIN onsdag. En af årsagerne er i følge Marc Lynch, director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, at det er svært at rette opmærksomheden på Yemen. Det er i stedet Tunesien, Egypten og Libyen, der løber med opmærksomheden.
ADEN/DUBAI, 5 October 2011 (IRIN) – Aid workers say Yemen is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster; but as needs in the country increase, the delivery of aid is becoming ever more complicated.
One of the poorest countries in the world with a rebel movement in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and al-Qaeda forces at large, Yemen has now been tipped even further over the edge by an ever more violent response to pro-democracy protests across its main cities, a fuel crisis and rising food prices. Compounded, these factors have turned chronic problems like malnutrition into acute crises.
Yet as an already fragile humanitarian situation gets worse, hesitant donors, insecurity and logistical complexities are hampering the delivery of aid to the most vulnerable.
“We have here in Yemen many concurrent humanitarian situations to deal with,” said Geert Cappelaere, representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen. “Each and every one of these humanitarian situations is very often of an unprecedented complexity for us as the international humanitarian community.”
Funding
To begin with, interest in Yemen has always lagged behind other countries in the region. As Marc Lynch, director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, wrote on his blog, “It has been difficult to get anyone to pay attention to Yemen.”
”The plight of people living in the poorest country in the region is being forgotten by the international community”
“While donors have pledged billions of dollars to help Tunisia, Egypt and Libya rebuild their economies and meet humanitarian needs, the plight of people living in the poorest country in the region is being forgotten by the international community,” Oxfam International said in a 19 September report about widespread hunger and chronic malnutrition in Yemen.
The funding that did exist is now shrinking. Among other things, donors have been worried that funds could be funnelled through a widely reported government patronage system.
In mid-2011, the Netherlands withheld government aid in protest at human rights violations during the crackdown, the Oxfam report said. In August, the World Bank announced a freeze of its half-a-billion dollar aid programme over security and governance concerns. The USA and European Union have also withdrawn or suspended some funding in recent months, according to Ashley Clements, the report’s author.
“Ironically… with Yemen facing one of its greatest humanitarian challenges ever, donors are pulling funds,” he told IRIN. “Some money is talked about and never pledged. Some is pledged and never given.”
The Friends of Yemen – a group of donors concerned for Yemen’s future, including the USA and European and Gulf states – has not met since the current crisis began in February, Oxfam said. The Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, a UN-administered consolidated appeal for funds, has received less than 60 percent of the US$290 million it requested. “While the political stalemate has caused many donors to pause, this is the time when it is most critical to act,” Oxfam said. “No longer should politics and security be the drivers of aid strategies in Yemen,” it added, referring in part to a US insistence on focusing its aid on counter-terrorism, rather than on the areas of Yemen in most need.
Insecurity
Læs videre her: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93883
