Displaying items by tag: Yemen

On 18 March 2016 Prayer Alert readers prayed for the safety of an Indian priest who had been abducted when a Catholic care home for the frail and disabled in Aden was attacked. See On 12 September India’s foreign minister released a tweet that read, ‘I am happy to say that Father Tom has been rescued’. Last December he appeared in a video, begging for his life. Pope Francis appealed for his release, but nothing seemed to happen. The video confirmed he was in very poor health. He will now go to Rome, where he will get medical treatment.

Unicef reports that cholera cases in Yemen could quadruple in the next month to 300,000. A runaway epidemic is killing someone nearly every hour and threatening the lives of thousands, says Oxfam. There is an urgent call going out for massive aid efforts and an immediate ceasefire to allow health and aid workers to tackle the outbreak. The World Health Organisation said that between 27 April and 3 June, 676 people died and over 86,000 were suspected of having the disease. Yemen’s neglected medical reporting system and the widespread nature of the epidemic mean that these figures are likely to be under-reporting the full scale of the crisis. The crisis follows two years of war which have decimated water and sanitation systems, restricted imports, and left millions one step away from famine.

The city of Taiz has 2.4 million people, living in tragedy resulting from the two-year war. The city is important geographically, as it lies between the southern provinces, controlled by Hadi’s forces, and the northern provinces which are controlled by former President Saleh’s forces and the Houthis. Also, its southwestern coast overlooks the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which sees one-third of the oil trade every day. Taiz has become central to the Yemen conflict, and militants are increasingly interested in controlling it. It has become a city ravaged by war and the Houthi blockade. Disease and malnutrition threaten people’s lives. Public employees’ salaries are cut, it is difficult to get relief aid to the displaced and afflicted, and living conditions are going downhill. People have fled to temporary settlements or camps, without access to sanitation or basic needs.

In February Prayer Alert readers were told of 1.4 million children at risk of starvation in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and northeast Nigeria. The crisis has worsened. Millions of people are caught in conflicts within their countries. Livelihoods are disrupted, and they cannot produce food. This is a God-sized situation that requires intercession and His intervention. The UN needs $4.4 billion by July to prevent famine in these countries. An official said the organisation is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since its creation. Without the funding and collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. Yemen's needs are the most critical: two-thirds of the population (19 million) need assistance. In South Sudan, 7.5 million need help. In Somalia and northeastern Nigeria there is also severe food insecurity because of violence and instability. See also