Angelina Jolie's Hope for Yemen

Photo Credit: Angelina Jolie on Instagram March 8, 2022, Yemen

Angelina Jolie, a Special Envoy for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), visited Yemen this week to bring media attention to the ongoing humanitarian disaster that has largely fallen from the headlines. Next week, the United Nations (UN) will host their annual High-Level Pledging Conference for Yemen with the hope that governments will fill the gaps in the "unprecedented shortage" of funding. The UN hopes that Jolie's visit will encourage international action and aid. Why has the violent conflict in Yemen lasted almost a decade?

War games. Yemen is situated at the base of the Arabian Peninsula and its immediate neighbors are Saudi Arabia and Oman. While Yemen has seen more than its fair share of internal conflicts over the past few decades, the current war started in 2014 when Houthi rebels captured key areas in the north. In response in 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign called “Decisive Storm” to unseat the Houthis and reinstate the government that their coalition, and much of the world, recognized as legitimate. Yemen's civil war may now be more of a proxy war, with Houthis, supported by Iran, fighting against a political coalition backed by Saudi Arabia. Yemen's war is complicated because in addition to the country's internal divisions between the north and south, foreign governments and militant groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon have reportedly engaged in the conflict as well. Each external actor has chosen a side based on their nation or group's security concerns and personal stake in Yemen's strategic importance as a maritime route, most notably for oil shipments.

The unimaginable death toll. The magnitude of this war is hard to grasp. Four million Yemenis are internally displaced because of the conflict, and 20 million Yemenis rely on humanitarian assistance. According to Jolie's recent reporting for UNHCR, there are "at least 50 active frontlines" in the country. In late 2021, the UN published a report that estimated the death toll would reach 377,000 people by the end of that year. That figure includes people killed by military actions like air raids, hunger, and completely preventable war-related diseases, like cholera. The UN estimated that "70% of those killed would be children under the age of five." Achim Steiner, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, said, “in the case of Yemen, we believe that the number of people who have actually died as a consequence of conflict exceeds the numbers who died in battlefield.”

Angelina Jolie and UNHCR's top five needs. On Instagram, Jolie wrote, "we live in a world where suffering and horror dominates headlines, but where such headlines can result in overwhelming displays of compassion and international solidarity. I hope this compassion and solidarity will be extended to the people of Yemen." She added that UNHCR needs the following five actions to occur to ensure that Yemenis are safe and have adequate food, shelter, and medical aid: 1) all parties need to commit to respecting international humanitarian law; 2) civilians need safe passage to flee; 3) humanitarian workers need access to people in need; 4) Yemenis need a peace agreement to end the conflict; and 5) the UN needs financial support for their Yemen appeal, which is only 9% funded.

Share this UNHCR video when you talk about Yemen. In under five minutes, UNHCR breaks down the war, Yemen's history, and why this is the worst humanitarian disaster today. During last year's virtual pledging conference for Yemen, the UN tried to raise $3.85 billion but only acquired less than half of that amount. Educating our friends, family, and communities about Yemen's conflicts can encourage governments and the private sector to donate to the UN campaign to help Yemenis. As we've seen with the crisis in Ukraine, awareness impels us to action. Tell people what's happening and why it matters.