Sanaa, Yemen, Feb 19, 2020 / 11:19 am
Nearly 24 million people in Yemen are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to a Center of Strategic and International Studies report.
Speaking Jan. 9 to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis called the current situation in Yemen "one of the most serious humanitarian crises of recent history."
The Yemeni Civil War between a Saudi Arabian-led coalition and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels has left more than 100,000 dead since 2015, and millions more in need of basic food and medical necessities. Between Saudi air strikes on hospitals and schools and Houthi forces holding aid hostage, both sides of the conflict have violated international humanitarian law.
In his speech to diplomats last month the pope decried the "general indifference on the part of the international community" to the human suffering in Yemen.