Forgotten Suffering in Yemen

Photograph of Yemeni camp by ECHO/H. Veit, CC BY-SA 2.0

Out of sight out of mind.

During a pandemic that has upended all of our lives, it can be hard to remember that there are other urgent humanitarian crises occurring in our global community. Columnist Nicholas Kristof gives voice to child victims of starvation, a problem that has been greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insecurity is a problem especially in Yemen, “the capital of human suffering today.” Although millions of children will suffer acute malnutrition this year, Kristof is very aware of the human tendency to become numb to statistics, and so he directs our attention to one child, Abdo Sayid. Abdo’s family gave permission for photographer Giles Clarke to photograph their child before died. Clarke’s photograph of Abdo depicting him emaciated and expressionless is hard to look at. But we should look at it, to remember there are many children like him that need our help.

You can read Nicholas Kristof’s column here.

You can donate to UNICEF here.