Not many people have heard of what is happening in the Country of Yemen or have even heard of the country itself. This article will explain what is going on there and why it matters to you. 

Yemen’s History and Current State

The original conflict started eighty years ago between the internationally recognized government and a group of rebels called the Houthi backed by Iran. After that war the rebels have come back to Yemen and have overthrown the government. Division in the country is in between the North and South, as well as European countries’ influence has caused more problems. These differences were subsided and unified for four years from 1990 to 1994 till the south seceded after being attacked by Al-Qaeda. Then in 2015 Al-Qaeda attacked two Zaydi Mosques killing 140 worshipers and soon taking territory in the south east and putting in over seven thousand planes ready for attacking. This left the country in a devastating state with no protection for its people with no schools to protect children. This tyranny has left 23.4 million people in need of help. This has also led to price hikes of things like fuel causing the UN to give a 550 million dollar loan to lower prices of fuel.  Then once Covid-19 outbreak started around twelve thousand cases broke out and slowed any chance for humanitarian help.  Although Saudi- Arabia has been an Ally to Yemen the Biden administration is supporting Saudi which did not do much for Yemen as they want to continue the war to win. Soon after this the UN signed a brokered peace bill for the conflict. This led the Biden administration to quickly stop supporting them and follow the UN’s decisions. This only came with challenges of creating peace as the UN had to make peace with both parties.

 Why Should This be Important to me?

Yemen’s state of crisis is not well known and is very little talked about. It is important for you as a person to know what is going on in the world you live in. As a high school student we have our own responsibilities but, Hosam, a 16 year old in Yemen has different responsibilities. In an article it states Hosam’s perspective and how it has changed his everyday life saying, “Since the beginning of the war in 2015, neither he nor his brother have been able to attend school. Instead, they work repairing cars and motorbikes to help provide the family with income.“We wanted to help our family financially,” says Hosam. “With this money we could afford only bread and wheat. Sometimes we get some rice from one of our neighbors.” Hosam and his family are forced to sacrifice their normal lives to provide for themselves. As high school students we sometimes forget about our privilege to go to school. While kids in Yemen and  in other countries do not have this privilege and only want to return to what we call a “normal boring life.”