Save Yemeni lives

Mirna Shalash: More than 80% Yemenis are below the poverty line

Partners for Transparency, with the participation of the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, delivered an oral intervention before the Human Rights Council, today, July 1, about the difficult economic conditions that Yemeni citizens live in as a result of the violations committed by the Houthi militia, especially after stopping the payment of the salaries of a large number of employees, The rise in fuel and electricity prices, in addition to the high exchange rate of the dollar to record levels, with which the prices of foodstuffs more than doubled, which made many citizens unable to meet their basic needs, due to weak purchasing power and lack of financial liquidity. There is a lot of talk about the emergence of famine in many areas of Yemen, which led to the death of a large number of citizens.

For her part, Mirna Shalash, the international relations coordinator for the Partners Foundation, confirmed that since the Houthi coup against the legitimate authority in 2014, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Yemen's national income has decreased by 50%, and more than 600,000 jobs have been lost, leading to the failure of hundreds of thousands of employees and retirees to receive regular payments since late In 2016, more than 1.5 million families were no longer supported through public safety nets, and more than 80% Yemenis were below the poverty line.

Shalash added that Yemen today suffers from the worst humanitarian disaster in history, as there are more than 80 thousand Yemeni children at risk of death due to starvation and malnutrition, and there are 24 million people in Yemen, i.e. 75% of the population in need of humanitarian aid during the year 2019, among them 11.3. A million people desperately need help to survive.

It is noteworthy that this intervention comes in the context of the work of the 41st session of the Human Rights Council, which started its work on June 24 and is scheduled to continue until July 12, which witnesses intensive participation by the Foundation, which is participating in a large mission of 26 individuals from 8 European, Arab and African countries in its various sessions. During which I discussed multiple issues.