Position Paper

en
Committee: World Health Organisation, WHO
Agenda: Disease Control in Humanitarian Emergencies

m
Country: Republic of Yemen
Delegates: Arijita Ganguly, Viraj Vaidya, MCOPS

Ye
"Let us be on the right side of history: The side that chooses humanity over despair. The side that stands up for 'we the
peoples' in today's world. Let us make a historic step forward."

of
- Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary General of United Nations

A humanitarian crisis is considered to be an event or events that threaten the health, safety or wellbeing of a large group of

lic
people. Humanitarian crises can be caused by war, natural disasters, famine and/or disease outbreak. Humanitarian crises have
devastating physical, psychological and social consequences for children.
ub
Humanitarian crises threaten the lives of millions of people worldwide in numerous countries. Triggered by events such as
natural disasters, civil wars or epidemics, humanitarian crises are characterised by the fact that they endanger the health,
well-being and safety of a large group of people.
ep

The Kingdom of Yemen (colloquially known as North Yemen) became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and in
1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic. The British, withdrew in 1967 from what became the People's Republic of Southern
R

Yemen (colloquially known as South Yemen). The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
Legislative overview

Bicameral Parliament or Majlis consists of:Shura Council or Majlis Alshoora (111 seats; members appointed by the president;

en
member tenure NA)House of Representatives or Majlis al Nuwab (301 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies
by simple majority vote to serve 6-year terms)

m
Economic overview

Ye
It has a Low-income Middle Eastern economy.
The infrastructure, trade and economic institutions
are devastated by the civil war. Yemen is dependent

of
on Oil and Gas reserves but even the reserves are
gradually decreasing. Yemen is facing poverty, food

lic
insecurity and unemployment, further leading to
increase in high inflation.
ub
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$73.63 billion (2017 est.)
ep

Real GDP per capita

$2,500 (2017 est.)
R
 en
The Government knows the scale of the suffering of the Yemeni people due to the unfair war imposed by the militia, he said. So

m
far in 2021, the Government has facilitated access to fuel in militia-controlled areas, but the militia is hampering the official export of
fuel and using funds to finance the war effort rather than to pay civil servants. The Government has issued permits for more than 40

Ye
vessels to dock at Hudaydah, but the militia has confiscated fees paid by those ships.

He underscored the Government’s commitment to allow oil imports, including for delivery to Houthi areas, and called for

of
pressure to be put on that group to stop syphoning off oil revenues. He also urged the Council to help ensure that the perpetrators
of the Aden airport attack on 30 December 2020 are brought to justice, and for the Panel of Experts established pursuant to
resolution 2140 (2014) to investigate crimes committed by the Houthis, including a fire at a displaced persons camp housing African
migrants.
lic
ub
The civil war in Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has grown even more violent since the start of this year. The
Saudi-led coalition backing the country's official government has spent seven years fighting a rebel group called the Houthis, using
ep

mainly air strikes They, in turn, have used drones and missiles to attack both Saudi Arabia and its ally, the United Arab Emirates.
Yemen has focused on primary health care as a cornerstone of health-service provision because of its dispersed population and
more than 130 000 inhabited settlements in harsh geographical terrain. In Yemen, the new government has included strengthening
R
of health services in its programme for action, increasing coverage and improving quality of these services as part of commitments
for social and human development.

en
The ultimate aim of the strategic investments implemented by Yemen is two-fold: provision of adequate coverage and

enhancement of trust in the public delivery system, both of which are key steps in the achievement of UHC. Improving healthcare

m
and public health services in Yemen is clearly dependent upon achieving political and economic stability. One way forward is a

Ye
primary care-based sustainable and equitable model of healthcare. Central to making healthcare acceptable in the Middle East is

delivering it in a way that is sensitive to both culture and religious faith.

The community-based approach of family medicine is ideally placed for those needs, in part because it values the role of female

of
healthcare professionals within the primary care team. Through trusted relationships with patients, female clinicians have privileged

lic
access to women and children, in particular for delivering key antenatal care interventions and childhood immunisation. In Yemen,

this increased role for female doctors is essential as it is culturally unacceptable for female patients to consult male clinicians.
ub
These highlight the importance of cultural sensitivity and need for local leadership in the healthcare service department.
ep

References

Journey of Global Health - https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/jgh/article/view/5306/3142

R
Country Cooperation Strategy: Yemen -

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/518094/retrieve&usg=AOvVaw1BMTkAOtgeQvNtzSaQZkIB

en
World Health Organization: Yemen - https://www.who.int/countries/yem

CIA: Yemen - https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/yemen/summaries

m
United Nations: Yemen -

Ye
https://yemen.un.org/en/about/about-the-un#:~:text=The%20People's%20Democratic%20Republic%20of,with%20the%20name%2

0Yemen%22.%22

Republic of Yemen: Poverty Reduction - https://www.imf.org/External/NP/prsp/2002/yem/01/053102.pdf

of
lic
ub
ep
R