To Stay and Deliver? The Yemen Humanitarian Crisis 2015

Within the humanitarian community the consensus has been that the provision of humanitarian aid in Yemen has been inadequate. In terms of the quantity, quality, and timeliness of aid provision, humanitarian aid actors, including the UN, INGOs, and donors, have failed in their responsibilities in the Yemen response. There have been many obstacles to aid provision during the Yemen crisis. The perception of security risks, the approach taken to respond to them, and the capacity to meet these dangers, have all been particularly important elements in the Yemen response.

Various approaches to meeting the challenges of providing humanitarian assistance in conflict zones are available, but it can be agreed that staying and delivering assistance is preferable to leaving a conflict zone and failing to live up to one’s responsibility as a humanitarian actor. The humanitarian system, in order to meet the primary objective of conflict affected populations receiving needed assistance, must work together to create an enabling environment for the provision of humanitarian assistance. The humanitarian system, however, is not always successful in establishing this enabling environment. This article examines the negative case of aid provision in Yemen in 2015.