Yemen Files - Part 2
YH-S1
377,000 dead by end of 2021. The UN called it the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The port that fed Yemen was under blockade.
The UNDP estimated 377,000 deaths attributable to the Yemen war by the end of 2021. 154,000 were from direct conflict. 223,000 were from indirect causes: hunger, disease and lack of medical care. Two-thirds of Yemen's population required humanitarian assistance. Hodeida port, the entry point for 70 percent of Yemen's food imports, was repeatedly disrupted by blockade and fighting. Famine conditions were documented. A cholera outbreak recorded over 2.5 million suspected cases.
YH-S2
21 million in need · Worst humanitarian crisis · UN OCHA · UNDP02 / 07
21 million Yemenis needed aid. The UN called it the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
UN OCHA designated Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis. By 2021, approximately 21.6 million Yemenis, two-thirds of the population, required humanitarian assistance. Five million were at risk of famine. The country's healthcare system had near-collapsed under the combined pressure of airstrikes, economic collapse and a cholera outbreak.
The UNDP estimated that a child died every nine minutes from conflict-related causes in 2021. Save the Children estimated in November 2018 that 85,000 children may have died of starvation since the start of the war. Most indirect deaths are believed to be children under five years of age, per UNDP analysis.
Source: UNDP, "Yemen: Assessing the Impact of War on Development," 2021 · UN OCHA Yemen documentation · WFP Yemen situation reports · Save the Children, November 2018
YH-S3
Civilian infrastructure targeted · Markets, schools, hospitals · UN GEE documented · Human Rights Watch03 / 07
Markets. Schools. Hospitals. All documented as struck. All protected under international humanitarian law.
The UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen documented violations of international humanitarian law including attacks on civilian objects by both the coalition and Houthi forces. Human Rights Watch documented specific strikes on markets, schools, wedding gatherings and health facilities. The GEE concluded that violations "may amount to war crimes." Its mandate was terminated in October 2021 under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Yemen Data Project documented that a significant proportion of the over 25,000 documented airstrikes between 2015 and 2022 hit non-military targets. Human Rights Watch's 2021 World Report documented continued firing of mortars, rockets and missiles into heavily populated areas by both coalition forces and Houthi forces. The documentation of civilian harm by both parties is in the public record.
Source: UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, reports 2018-2021 · Human Rights Watch, Yemen World Report 2021 · Yemen Data Project
YH-S4
Cholera outbreak · 2.5 million cases · Healthcare near-collapse · MSF documented 12 hospitals04 / 07
Yemen's healthcare system near collapsed. A cholera outbreak recorded over 2.5 million cases by December 2020.
The cholera outbreak in Yemen began in October 2016. By December 2020 it had recorded over 2.5 million suspected cases, making it one of the largest cholera outbreaks in recorded history. The outbreak was driven by the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, the collapse of the healthcare system and population displacement caused by the conflict.
MSF documented operating in 12 hospitals and health centres across Yemen, focusing on war surgery and emergency obstetric care. The ICRC documented systematic attacks on medical infrastructure. Human Rights Watch documented coalition strikes on specific health facilities by name, location and date. The healthcare system that existed before 2015 had effectively ceased to function in large parts of the country.
Source: ICRC, Yemen health infrastructure documentation · MSF, Yemen operations documentation · Human Rights Watch, Yemen World Report 2021
YH-S5
Hodeida port · 70 percent of food imports · Blockade · WFP documented05 / 07
Hodeida port handled 70 percent of Yemen's food imports. Access was constrained throughout the war.
WFP documented Hodeida port as the entry point for approximately 70 percent of Yemen's food and commercial imports. Coalition naval operations and ground fighting around Hodeida repeatedly disrupted the port's function throughout the conflict. The Yemen Data Project and Campaign Against Arms Trade both documented the port's central role in food supply and the consequences of its disruption.
Transport infrastructure was repeatedly targeted throughout the country. WFP Yemen situation reports from 2018 to 2022 documented ongoing access constraints, funding shortfalls and the compound effects of blockade, conflict and economic collapse on food distribution. As of early 2024, WFP Yemen reported it was just 7 percent funded for the January to June 2024 period, threatening aid delivery to millions.
Source: WFP Yemen situation reports 2018-2024 · Campaign Against Arms Trade humanitarian documentation · UN OCHA Hodeida documentation
YH-S6
UNDP · 377,000 dead by end of 2021 · 154,000 direct · 223,000 indirect · Child every 9 minutes06 / 07
377,000 dead by end of 2021. 154,000 direct. 223,000 from hunger, disease and lack of medical care. Most were children.
The UNDP's 2021 report "Yemen: Assessing the Impact of War on Development" estimated 377,000 deaths attributable to the war by the end of 2021. 154,000 were directly caused by armed conflict. 223,000, approximately 59 percent, were from indirect causes including food insecurity, disease and lack of medical care. A majority of the indirect deaths are believed to be children under five.
The UNDP projected that if conflict continued until 2030, another 1.3 million people could die. The CFR Global Conflict Tracker, drawing on UN estimates, confirmed that the war had killed approximately 377,000 people between 2015 and early 2022. The same period saw a cholera outbreak of over 2.5 million suspected cases, one million cases of COVID-19 complication, and near-total healthcare system collapse.
Source: UNDP, "Yemen: Assessing the Impact of War on Development," 2021 · CFR Global Conflict Tracker, Yemen · Campaign Against Arms Trade, "A humanitarian crisis, created by war"
YH-S7
The question. Not a claim.07 / 07
377,000 dead. 21 million needing aid. The port that fed the country under blockade. The hospitals struck. The arms sales documented as unlawful continued. What does accountability mean when the record exists and the outcome does not change?
Next week: Part 3 of 4. November 2023. Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping. US and UK airstrikes on a country already recording the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Part 4: the reckoning. What the documented record says about who bears responsibility and what the institutional response produced.
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