radhya
"At a time when countries around the world are scrambling to respond to COVID-19 and ensure that hospitals can treat all patients, Yemen has entered the sixth year of a war that has destroyed our healthcare system,” said Radhya Almutawakel
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Mwatana for Human Rights Chair Radhya Almutawakel and Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies Senior Researcher Abdulghani Al-Iryani publicly briefed the US Congress today, the first time that Congress has invited multiple Yemeni speakers to an experts’ panel directly briefing members. The two discussed recent developments in Yemen, focusing on COVID-19's impact on the country’s humanitarian crisis and the consequences of Saudi Arabia’s recent unilateral ceasefire announcement for the conflict.The virtual briefing on Yemen is the first public event to be hosted by the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism since COVID-19's interruption of normal congressional business in March.The focus on Yemen is timely, as Yemen’s warring parties engage in a dangerous military escalation even as the threat of a pandemic emerges and is further magnified by the decimation of the country’s health care system over the past five years of conflict, which has seen the repeated targeting of hospitals and medical workers.“At a time when countries around the world are scrambling to respond to COVID-19 and ensure that hospitals can treat all patients, Yemen has entered the sixth year of a war that has destroyed our healthcare system,” said Radhya Almutawakel in her opening remarks to the representatives.Abdulghani Al-Iryani told subcommittee members that “the US and other powers should support a diplomatic approach that, while focusing on reuniting the country and its central institutions, recognizes Yemen’s many voices, and they should propose a highly decentralized national unity government.”“The international community has failed Yemen”, Al-Iryani added.Both Almutawakel and Al-Iryani urged the subcommittee to continue using the power of the US Congress to push Yemen’s warring parties to a political settlement and to stop fueling the war through arms sales and military aid.Representatives were also pressed to ensure that the United States resumes and supports a robust humanitarian response across Yemen to mitigate the likely dire impacts of COVID-19 on the millions of Yemenis already in need of life-saving assistance.“The US decision to withdraw humanitarian funding for Yemen at a time of our greatest need risks creating an escalating catastrophe. It will not punish the Houthis; it will punish Yemen’s already vulnerable civilians,” Almutawakel noted.In addition to marking the first time that Congress has invited multiple Yemeni speakers to an expert panel, it is only the second instance of the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism inviting a Yemeni expert to publicly brief its members, and it is only the third time that a Yemeni has spoken before a Congressional committee.The briefing was a powerful sign that international attention to Yemen’s conflict and humanitarian crisis remains high despite the onset of a pandemic, and remarks from Almutawakel and Al-Iryani made clear that Yemen can’t wait for business as usual to resume if the war and its resulting human suffering is to end. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
