TThree weeks ago, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told me that, in the face of drastic cuts to the UK’s aid budget, Yemen would remain a British priority country and that the government would have the full power of its diplomatic efforts. used to bring about peace.
On Monday, the words went wild when he announced that the United Kingdom was reducing humanitarian aid to Yemen by more than 50% compared to last year. As a result, an already devastated country is now facing the worst famine in decades and the prospect of lasting peace seems further away than ever before.
Yemen is in the grip of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Since 2015, the country has been engulfed in a devastating civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead, including tens of thousands of civilians. Many millions are involved in the destruction of critical infrastructure, including hospitals and homes, internal displacement and a deepening economic crisis.
This protracted and complicated situation is only getting worse, with 80% of the population, including 12.4 million children, now in need of humanitarian assistance. Despite this clear need, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) proposes that by the end of 2020, three million fewer Yemenis would have received assistance each month compared to the beginning of the year. Abeer Fowzi, of IRC Yemen, said “Yemenis have never had so little support from the international community – or so many simultaneous challenges”.
The biggest threat facing Yemenis today is the worst famine. Mark Lowcock, UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has warned that 50,000 Yemenis are already living in starvation conditions and that 400,000 minors are at risk of starvation next week.
The UN has sought nearly $ 4 billion (£ 2.9 billion) in humanitarian funding to stave off immediate disaster and help 16 million people across Yemen survive. It was hoped that the UK would maintain previous levels of aid at around £ 200 million last year. Lowcock said anything would be less catastrophic for the prospect of peace in the country, which would make the British £ 87 million commitment all the more tragic.
I was warned in January that British ambassadors in developing countries were being asked to reduce their aid budgets by 50 to 70%. When I raised the issue with Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, he said he did not recognize the figure. The cuts on Monday for Yemen confirm my worst fears – that these figures are true and not even those in the most desperate humanitarian crises are safe.
There is still a shocking lack of government transparency about where wider aid cuts will fall, and I am not aware of any consultation with non-governmental organizations or partners in the global south to limit its impact. I have heard of the forthcoming cuts to projects that want to empower girls to know their rights and report cases of violence, while also warning about programs dealing with nutrition, water purification and hygiene and sexual and reproductive health. Analysis indicates that 5.3 million fewer children will be vaccinated per year due to government cuts and that 4.5 million will receive less decent education.
While other G7 countries are stepping up their aid commitments, the UK, despite hosting the G7 summit later this year, is not doing the same. In Yemen, the UK could have chosen to help prevent catastrophic famine and build foundations for peace, but decided to turn the other side. The words that are often repeated are that Yemenis are not starving, but that they are starving.
It is even more perverse that the government made this decision while maintaining arms exports to countries linked to the civil war. On this, they ignored calls from Labor, their own backbenchers and President Joe Biden, who in his first speech on foreign policy announced an end to all relevant arms sales for the war in Yemen.
However, there is a greater concern: these decisions set a worrying precedent for what ‘global Britain’ – still largely undefined – really means. If we reduce Yemeni support, it not only puts us dangerously with our allies, but leaves us consciously on the brink of starvation. Is this really what Britain should be worldwide?