'Everything Needed for Survival Is Collapsing,' ICRC Says as Yemen Conflict Enters Fourth Year
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on April 3 that Yemen’s food chain, health service, water and sewer systems were all collapsing as the conflict, which began on March 19, 2015, entered a fourth year.The ICRC said that it hoped that government leaders who were gathering in Geneva that day for a pledging conference for Yemen would be generous, though asked donating nations to tie their support to “clear conditions of respect of the laws of war.”“We know that there are important weapons transfers, this is normal in a conflict," ICRC’s director of operations for the Middle East Robert Mardinim said, "but those transfers of weapons should come together with very clear conditions that civilians should be protected, hospitals should not be targeted. Put simply, there should not be support without compliance with international humanitarian law.”Speaking at Geneva, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres asked both sides to work toward a political solution, Reuters reported. Guterres also told reporters that more than $2 billion had been pledged toward the UN’s humanitarian efforts. Credit: ICRC via Storyful