In November, the United Nations issued a warning that Yemen was in imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen in decades.
As the country faces its darkest moment, efforts to bring peace to the country are more urgent than ever. But there are some signs of hope.
There is no doubt that greater US diplomatic involvement is giving fresh impetus to political efforts led by the UN. If this momentum is maintained, it can create the best chance of saving lives, avoiding mass famine and opening the way to peace.
The only question is whether the world will seize the opportunity. Many people have a role to play in this. But what the international donor community does now will be crucial.
It is impossible to exaggerate the horror of daily life in Yemen. Two out of three people depend on help to survive. Almost 50,000 Yemenis are already living in conditions similar to hunger. The war decimated the economy and crushed public services. Life in Yemen for the average person has become unbearable, and children are the ones who suffer the most.
Children are starving. This year, almost half of all children under five will suffer from acute malnutrition. This includes 400,000 who face severe acute malnutrition. Many will die without urgent treatment and those who survive will suffer the largely irreversible damage caused by the disease.
Preventable diseases like cholera, diphtheria and measles cause the unnecessary death of at least one child every 10 minutes in Yemen. Sick children are rejected by health facilities that have no drugs or supplies. And every day, Yemeni children are killed or maimed in the conflict.
The only long-term solution to Yemen’s problems is to find an end to the war and a path to peace, guided by the aspirations of Yemenis.
But a political and diplomatic effort will only stand a chance if it is sustained by a stable humanitarian situation.
As the path to peace is traced, we must help to rebuild the country and public systems, strengthen national capacity, stabilize the economy and – more urgently – feed the children who are languishing because they are starving.
In decades, we have hardly witnessed a clearer case of expanding humanitarian aid. But last year’s funding for Yemen fell dramatically.
In 2020, the UN-led humanitarian operation received $ 1.9 billion (£ 1.35 billion) – half of what was needed and half of what was received the previous year.
The impact of reduced funding was brutal. Aid had to be cut and many people who needed help did not get it. Donors need to return to at least the same level of funding as 2019.
With hunger already approaching, we need to quickly increase the aid operation if we are to prevent it from devouring an entire generation.
On March 1, the UN, Sweden and Switzerland will convene a high-level donor event to pledge their support to the people of Yemen. The UN humanitarian response needs $ 4 billion this year.
This is what is needed to contain massive hunger and meet other acute needs. If the UN receives this funding, it could help 16 million people across Yemen with the basics they need to survive.
We can achieve this if donors commit to returning to much higher levels of funding in 2019 – at the very least.
Anything less is not enough. Anything less would miss this opportunity to avoid mass starvation and take a significant step towards peace.
Every extra dollar that the UN and its partners receive for the aid operation is a step in the right direction and the sooner you arrive, the better. We need to turn promises into food and medical supplies as quickly as possible, because time is not on our side.
This is not the time to retreat from Yemen. Nobody in Yemen deserves to die because they don’t have enough to eat.
More money for the aid operation is the quickest and most efficient way to avoid hunger. It will also help to create the conditions for lasting peace.
2020 was difficult for everyone, but it hit some much more strongly than others. The people of Yemen are in desperate need of help now. So, let’s defend them.
Mark Lowcock is the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian Affairs; Ignazio Cassis is addiction president and chief of Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs; Ann Linde is Sweden’s foreign minister; Per Olsson Fridh is Minister of International Cooperation for Development and Humanitarian Affairs in Sweden