NOOR SURIB

Yemen- People of Yemen have suffered from poverty since the conflicts broke out in their country in 2020. Last December, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF made a statement and drew attention to the famine in the country. “Yemen is on the brink of famine and we must not turn our backs on the millions of families who are now in desperate need,” WFP and UNICEF said in the statement. According to the data of the international organizations, 80 percent of 30 million people in the country require urgent humanitarian assistance and protection and 12 million children are in need of food, water, shelter, and medicine. Last December, the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a statement on its website and said the war in Yemen caused an estimated 233,000 deaths. While the picture of the country is getting worse day by day, Yemeni women took to the streets between October 1 and 3 to protest the mounting economic hardship in the country.

Call from Yemeni activists

A group of women, including academics, activists, journalists, and very well figures, took to the streets in the city of Aden to protest the country’s economic collapse between October 1 and 3. The women called on the Yemeni government to provide electricity and water services and to pay wages to those who haven’t received any wages for seven months. The women also called on the authorities to work in order to end the ongoing economic crisis in the country.

Yasmeen Baghreep, assistant Professor of the faculty of education at the University of Aden, is one of the women who joined the protests. "The citizens have been facing more difficulties. Income inequality is increasing day by day. The local currency has almost collapsed against foreign currencies. People, who don’t have additional financial income, have definitely faced hunger due to the pay cuts. This situation should be immediately improved,” Yasmeen Baghreep said.

“We are ready to hold all kinds of protests”

During the protests, Yemeni women shouted slogans and hung banners to call on the government. The women said, “We try to hold peaceful protests but we are ready to hold all kinds of protests to make our voices heard.”