W
hen a country
has spent years
wracked by violent
confl ict, how can the
outside world understand
what life there is really
like? Since 2015, war has
escalated across Yemen,
with numerous factions
battling along more
than thirty active front
lines. Those working with
the Doctors Without
Borders aid eff ort in
Yemen, one of the global
organization’s largest
operations, have a unique
eyewitness perspective
on the confl ict. As Jaume
Rado, the organization’s
head of mission in Sana’a,
says, “every day that
Doctors Without Borders
spends treating patients
is a day spent witnessing
the impacts of this war on
the civilian population.”Last year alone, the
nonprofi t treated sixteen
thousand war-wounded
Yemenis. Elma Wong, a
Doctors Without Borders
anesthetist stationed nearthe port city of Hodeidah,
has seen “a steady stream
of landmine victims:
children playing in the
fi eld, shepherds looking
after their sheep, women
shopping in the market.”
Horrifi c injuries from air
strikes are also common,
and Doctors Without
Borders facilities have
not been spared: the
medical-treatment
centers supported by
the nonprofi t have been
hit seven times by the
warring parties in Yemen.But the challenges
faced by Yemenis—and
those trying to help
them—extend far beyond
injuries caused directly
by the fi ghting. So far,
the confl ict has displaced
3.65 million people
across the country,fractured the country’s
institutions, and shattered
the public health-care
system. Civilians, medical
staff , and health facilities
have been attackedby all factions , leaving
hospitals damaged or
destroyed and blocking
civilians from essential
health services. Doctors
Without Borders is
striving to shore up a
health-care system on
the edge of collapse.
The nonprofi t works
in twelve hospitals
and provides support
to more than twenty
facilities across the
country. The organization
employs more than
twenty-two hundred
staff ers—the vast
majority locally hired—
and has compensated
approximately seven
hundred Ministry of
Health employees for
unpaid salaries. Wong
notes, “Our projects in
the country have rapidly
diversifi ed: maternal
health, nutritional
programs, vaccinations.... We are trying
desperately to help fi ll
the huge gaps in health
care created by this
relentless war.” Staff ers
also must respond quickly
to repeated outbreaks
of measles and cholera,
as well as diphtheria, a
disease that had been
nearly eradicated in
Yemen prior to the
current confl ict.Doctors Without
Borders points out that,
though the humanitarian
needs remain massive,
international funding
alone will not solve
the problem. Many
of the leading donor
governments supporting
humanitarian relief in
Yemen are also involved
in the war—including
Saudi Arabia, which
receives support from
the United States. As
warring factions continue
to destroy the country’s
infrastructure, including
the health system, their
international supporters
turn a blind eye. Theparties to the confl ict also
routinely prevent the fair
distribution of assistance
based on humanitarian
needs, and active
fi ghting often stops aid
from reaching the most
vulnerable communities.
“We are witnessing
how the humanitarian
response is persistently
falling short,” Rado
warns. He emphasizes
that immediate action
is needed to resolve the
obstacles preventing aid
from reaching the people
who need it, and to insure
that the aid delivered
responds to the actual
needs on the ground.The longer the war in
Yemen drags on, the
more vital it is to sustain
the eff orts of Doctors
Without Borders to ease
the suff ering of people
caught in confl ict.The global humanitarianorganization offers rare
insights from behind thefront lines of warDOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS REPORTS
BACK FROM THE CONFLICT IN YEMEN
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YEMEN 2019 © Agnes Varraine-LecaYEMEN 2018 © Guillaume Binet