Aid agencies call for life-saving assistance to crisis-hit Yemen

International aid agencies have demanded life-saving support to millions of civilians in Yemen, who are struggling to survive starvation and disease in the wake of Saudi Arabia’s atrocious aerial bombardment campaign.

On Monday, Britain-based Oxfam urged donor nations to provide aid for the Yemeni people rather than arms for the aggressors.

“Many areas of Yemen are on the brink of famine, and the cause of such extreme starvation is political,” it said in a statement on the eve of a United Nations conference in Geneva to seek aid pledges for the Arab country.

The British charity further argued that Western governments are participating in the confab “while they continue to sell billions of dollars worth of weapons and military equipment to parties to the conflict.”

The food crisis could deteriorate in case the international community fails to send a clear message that Saudi-led airstrikes against Yemen’s western port city of Hudaydah, which serves as a primary entry point for humanitarian aid and fuel for the Arab country, would be “totally unacceptable”, Oxfam noted.

Alexander Ventura, the emergency coordinator and head of mission in Yemen for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also said, “The health system is at the verge of collapse and medical services are under fire.” “Bilateral and institutional donors must prioritize assistance to the country’s health system to avoid total collapse. Doctors and nurses have not been paid in six months.”