HEARTS FOR YEMEN

Yemen, once known as “Fortunate Arabia” is now in the midst of famine and destruction due to the Yemeni Civil War. In 2011, after the Arab Spring Uprising*, Yemen’s former authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was forced to hand over power to his deputy, Abrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The Houthi Movement**, which formerly fought a series of rebellions against the former president, Saleh, took advantage of Hadi’s weakness and started taking control over their northern heartland of the Sadaa province and the areas surrounding it. The Houthis gained more support and eventually, they took over the capital, Sanaa, in 2015.  The Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict is the ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and surrounding regions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alarmed by the Houthi rise in power, Saudi Arabia believed that Iran was backing the Houthi as both were mostly Shia***. Saudi Arabia and eight other Sunni**** Arab states began an air campaign against the Houthis, aiming to defeat them and restore Hadi’s government along with destroying Iranian influence in Yemen. The Civil War has injured and killed thousands of innocent civilians and has caused blockades, making it nearly impossible to get food and medical supplies. The spread of COVID-19 has also contributed to this crisis. There is a lack of medical supplies in Yemen, and most of the medical equipment is low quality or unsanitary, yet hospitals are filled. In addition, much of the information about COVID-19 that reaches Yemen is outdated. COVID-19 is not the only disease hurting Yemen. Due to a lack of clean water and sanitation, many waterborne diseases such as Cholera have been spreading. Yemen is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. 20 million people are food insecure with half of them suffering from extreme hunger levels, 3.2 million people are malnourished, 17.8 million people have no access to clean water and sanitation, and 19.7 million people lack access to adequate healthcare. As of now, a child under the age of five dies every ten minutes. The world has ignored the cries of millions of innocent people. Will you?

*Arab Spring-The series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa that commenced in 2010. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in Tunisia. These protests spread to other countries and as a result, either the ruler was deposed or major uprisings and social violence occurred, including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. The government was overthrown twice in Yemen.

**The Houthi Movement- Islamic political and armed movement that emerged as an opposition to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. This movement primarily consists of Shia Houthis, but there are Sunni Houthis as well.

***Shia- Shia Islam or Shi'ism is one of the two main branches of Islam. Shia Muslims are in the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan.

****Sunni- Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam, followed by 87–90% of the world's Muslims. Sunnis are a majority in most Muslim communities: in Southeast Asia, China, South Asia, Africa, and a part of the Arab world., including Saudi Arabia.