Nearly 40 per Cent of Yemen Families Forced into Debt to Pay for Essentials

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Publication language
English
Date published
17 Feb 2021
Type
Factsheets and summaries
Keywords
Food and nutrition, Poverty
Countries
Yemen
Organisations
Oxfam

Nearly two out of every five families in Yemen buy food and medicines using debt, according to Oxfam research published today. 

Yemeni families are trapped in a cycle of informal debt, living precariously and reliant on the goodwill of shopkeepers as they lurch from one month to the next. 

Many told Oxfam they can’t borrow the money they need for essentials unless shopkeepers know they have a monthly income and for many, this means the money they receive from humanitarian agencies.

Last year, donors only provided half of the aid money needed for the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and with the 2021 UN humanitarian need budget for Yemen due out imminently, Oxfam is urging the international community to be generous when pledging funds. 

To struggle this hard to be able to provide food and medicine for one's family is an avoidable hardship that millions have to overcome on a daily basis. We need peace so no more Yemenis are forced to flee their homes and live in poverty.