Women Must Lead the Way Out Yemen’s Climate and Conflict Crises

Nov 1, 2022 | Jackie Abramian
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When the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen in early 2015 to “restore” the government to power after the takeover by Houthi fighters in the capital Sana’a, no one envisioned that the conflict would escalate into a full-scale war and last nearly seven years. Or that it would set off the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with a death toll of a quarter of a million, leaving 24.1 million people—80 percent of Yemen’s population—in need of humanitarian aid. 

In March, the United States government announced nearly $585 million in humanitarian assistance for Yemen. Yemen’s humanitarian crisis—further exacerbated by the pandemic—now includes severe climate change impacts. With $4.5 billion spent by the United States on the Yemen war, a Yemen peace process could help disentangle the United States from the disastrous Saudi-led war. 

A groundbreaking report that also came out this year on the work of women-led Yemeni organizations can offer key insights to address these overlapping crises. 

Yemeni women, especially pregnant women and mothers of young children, are the most vulnerable frontline victims of climate-related hardships—as well as warfare-related chemical pollution, mismanagement of natural resources, corruption, displacement, gender-based violence, and the destruction of natural habitats.