Suffering Yemen needs our help

Few Americans have heard of Yemen; even fewer know of its misfortune. It is my sincere hope that this will change, and that Washington and the world will help Yemen rather than ignore it. Yemen’s disaster stems from a civil war that has been raging since 2014. More than 10,000 have been killed, over than 3 million have been displaced, and 17 million are food insecure.

Amid the calamity, 80 percent of Yemen’s population of 28 million now requires humanitarian assistance. The most vulnerable have suffered the most. Since March 2015, over 1,000 children have been killed and some 1,600 have been injured. Two million of them are “acutely malnourished and at grave risk of dying.”

What is altogether maddening is that Yemen’s catastrophe is entirely man-made. An ongoing and indiscriminate air campaign in the civil war has decimated homes, schools, hospitals, markets and basic infrastructure. As such, more than 55 percent of Yemen’s health facilities are closed or only partially functional, and some 15 million people do not have access to basic healthcare. Approximately 14.5 million do not have safe water and sanitation services.

These are the perfect conditions for disease to spread. And indeed, a massive outbreak of cholera has emerged, resulting in more than 900,000 suspected cases and more than 2,000 related deaths since April.

While cholera is preventable and treatable, the people of Yemen are not receiving the aid they desperately need. The delivery of supplies and assistance from international relief organizations has been made difficult to impossible due to a blockade of Yemeni ports resulting from the civil war. Meanwhile, precious children and innocent civilians continue to suffer. Yemen’s gruesome picture is painted with the dead, hungry, and sick, and it is heartbreaking.

Yemen needs America’s and the world’s attention. We must speak out for those who have lost their lives and those who have had their lives destroyed by this vicious civil war.

I was recently asked to become ambassador to Yemen CrisisWatch, a new organization that seeks to raise awareness about the country. I agreed without hesitation. As a follower of Jesus, I have preached throughout my career — on television, on radio, and at churches — that we must help others who languish in fear and hopelessness.

From the comforts of our homes in America, we can donate to international aid organizations, such as CARE, the International Medical Corps, and numerous others, that provide the relief services the people of Yemen so desperately need.

We must also urge the United Nations to take immediate action and intervene more forcefully to allow for the safe passage of food, medical supplies, and urgent medical care in Yemen.

We can urge our political leaders to do more to alleviate the crisis. Already, 19 humanitarian and human rights organizations have called on senior national security officials in the U.S. government to help end the blockade on Yemen’s air, land, and sea ports of entry, condemn all attacks on civilians, and help set forth a realistic road map to peace among the warring parties.

In Congress, the House has passed a resolution on Yemen condemning the violence against civilians and calling for unobstructed access for humanitarian organizations, medical relief personnel and others. This is a good step, but we must urge lawmakers to do more.

The largest humanitarian crisis in the world that most Americans have never heard of is taking place in Yemen. We cannot look away from this tragedy. I hope that you will pray for Yemen and her people, and join me in doing what we can to help.

Dr. Robert Schuller is ambassador of YemenCrisisWatch.org. He was previously seen on the “Hour of Power” weekly television program broadcast from the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California.

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