Drought, Floods Push Yemenis to Breaking Point

Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)
Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)
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Drought, Floods Push Yemenis to Breaking Point

Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)
Yemenis on the outskirts of Sanaa gather to get clean water from a tanker provided by a donor (EPA)

The International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) warned on Tuesday that the climate crisis is pushing Yemeni communities already reeling from almost eight years of conflict to the breaking point.

Yemeni farmers, relying on agriculture and livestock for their survival, have seen their livelihoods destroyed by extreme drought, devastating flooding and grinding conflict, making it harder for them to make ends meet, ICRC said in a report.

This comes at a time when the number of Houthi mine victims in agricultural areas has risen to more than 300 civilians over the past months, according to UN reports.

ICRC said flooding in recent months has had a devastating impact on the Yemeni agricultural sector, destroying crops and moving explosive remnants of war to agricultural areas.

“With Yemen facing a devastating food security crisis, this will only further exacerbate an already alarming situation,” it said.

The Committee revealed that currently, approximately 19 million people in Yemen are unable to meet their daily food needs countrywide, compared to 16.2 million last year.

“That’s about 63% of the total population, up from 53% last year,” it affirmed.

Also, the climate crisis and conflict are forcing more families to abandon their homes, ICRC said, adding that over 3.3 million people in Yemen are currently estimated to be displaced from their homes.

“It is not uncommon for people to flee their homes seeking safety from conflict to then leave again because the ground cannot be farmed,” the Committee said.

In some areas, unexploded ordnances lurk in what should be farmland, making it dangerous for people to attend to their land.

Also, water scarcity across Yemen, exacerbated by the protracted conflict and several years of droughts, has limited access to safe water for 17.8 million people, the Committee said.

It warned that the droughts have forced an increasing number of farmers to abandon their profession.

ICRC’s report also showed that Yemen, like many conflict-affected countries, is disproportionately impacted by climate change and it called for greater support to help people cope with and adapt to climate change in countries like Yemen.

The report said ICRC works in close collaboration with Yemen Red Crescent Society to support the most vulnerable rural communities to sustain their livelihoods.

In 2021, more than 112,500 livestock keepers benefited from livestock vaccination and treatment campaigns, while in 2022 thousands of farmers have benefitted from multi-purpose cash grants, micro-economic initiative projects or coffee or wheat seed donations.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs revealed that civilian casualties increased by 20 percent since the April 2 truce due to Houthi landmines compared to the previous six months.

Until September 2022, landmines and unexploded ordnance killed 95 people and injured 248 in Yemen, the UN said.

Mines mostly affect frontline areas in Hodeidah and Jawf governorates.



Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
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Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)

Sudan's army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at war with paramilitaries, has announced a cabinet reshuffle that replaces four ministers including those for foreign affairs and the media.

The late Sunday announcement comes with the northeast African country gripped by the world's worst displacement crisis, threatened by famine and desperate for aid, according to the UN.

In a post on its official Facebook page, Sudan's ruling sovereignty council said Burhan had approved replacement of the ministers of foreign affairs, the media, religious affairs and trade.

The civil war that began in April 2023 pits Burhan's military against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries under the command of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Since then, the army-aligned Sudanese government has been operating from the eastern city of Port Sudan, which has largely remained shielded from the violence.

But the Sudanese state "is completely absent from the scene" in all sectors, economist Haitham Fathy told AFP earlier this year.

The council did not disclose reasons behind the reshuffle but it coincides with rising violence in al-Gezira, south of the capital Khartoum, and North Darfur in Sudan's far west bordering Chad.

On Friday the spokesman for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he condemned attacks by the RSF on Gezira, after the United States made a similar call over the violence against civilians.

Among the key government changes, Ambassador Ali Youssef al-Sharif, a retired diplomat who previously served as Sudan's ambassador to China and South Africa, was appointed foreign minister.

He replaces Hussein Awad Ali who had held the role for seven months.

Journalist and TV presenter Khalid Ali Aleisir, based in London, was named minister of culture and media.

The reshuffle also saw Omar Banfir assigned to the trade ministry and Omar Bakhit appointed to the ministry of religious affairs.

Over the past two weeks, the RSF increased attacks on civilians in Gezira following the army's announcement that an RSF commander had defected.

According to an AFP tally based on medical and activist sources, at least 200 people were killed in Gezira last month alone. The UN reports that the violence has forced around 120,000 people from their homes.

In total, Sudan hosts more than 11 million displaced people, while another 3.1 million are now sheltering beyond its borders, according to the International Organization for Migration.