As his last act in office, Donald J. Trump has just condemned hundreds of thousands of people to death. He has denied stopping American involvement in Saudi Arabia’s civil war. The UN raised an alarm that Trump’s decision will lead to a famine the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. It will make it nearly impossible to deliver food and medicine to a country that desperately needs assistance. The Yemeni people’s hope now rests with President Biden. He has promised voters to end US support for the Yemen war. A large public outcry could be the difference between helping the innocent and letting them die, starving and afraid.

Since 2016, a famine has been in Yemen, which started during the Yemeni Civil War. Over 2M children in Yemen are starving, almost half of these children under five years old. A report by Save the Children estimated that 85,000 children under the age of five had died from starvation and malnutrition. In May 2020, UNICEF described Yemen as “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world”, and estimated that over 24 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. The famine was worsened by an outbreak of cholera in June 2017. Devastation of Yemeni infrastructure, health, water and sanitation systems, and facilities by Saudi-led coalition air strikes led to the spread of cholera. UNICEF says that there have been many attacks on water systems in Yemen, cutting off water to many.

After 5 November 2017, the famine in Yemen was worsened by Saudi Arabia, who tightened its sea, air, and land blockade of Yemen. According to the manager of Al Hudaydah port, which is under the control of the Houthis, medicine and food cannot go to Al-Hudaydah, because Saudi-led air strikes destroyed the port’s industrial cranes in August 2015. On November 23, 2017, the blockade was partially, but not fully lifted, and some humanitarian supplies were allowed into the country.

In October 2018, the United Nations warned that 13 million people face starvation in what could be “the worst famine in the world in 100 years.”

According to the Global Hunger Index, Yemen has the second-highest hunger score in the world, after the Central African Republic.

This famine has been caused by the war and a naval blockade, as well as fishing boats, the Yemeni’s main income, being destroyed by air strikes, which has left them without a way to provide for their families and community. The result of this is that one child dies every ten minutes on average. A panel of the United Nation’s experts has found that Saudi Arabia is purposefully keeping away humanitarian aid for Yemen.

We must put a stop to this! By signing this petition, you are helping save lives! Send it to your friends, your family, your cousins, your neighbors, tell everyone to “Read all about it!” and have them sign the petition. You can help them, even if your country won’t.