Author of UNICEF study on Yemen to brief TDs
Richard Boyd Barrett TD, will host an Oireachtas briefing on Tuesday 1st March at 11am with Irish Anti War Movement (IAWM) and international experts, on the war in Yemen and worsening humanitarian crisis.
Dr Mouna Hashem is a Senior Evaluation Consultant & Researcher. She has worked extensively in Yemen conducting evaluations for a wide range of international organizations and bilateral agencies such as the UN agencies, the World Bank, DFID and USAID. Dr Hashem has also served as a senior researcher and principal investigator of UN global policy research studies, including being on the ILO global research team that conceptualized the theory of social exclusion as it relates to developing countries; and more recently conducted the UNICEF global study of Out-of-School Children in Yemen.
Abdulaziz Almoayyad is a Saudi activist living in Ireland and a founding member of the Saudi Diaspora Association.
Since 2014 Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have waged a brutal war on the people of Yemen. Tens of thousands of Yemeni men, women and children have been injured and killed by bombs and weapons supplied by the US, British and EU Governments. Civilians have been killed by consistent Saudi and UAE air strikes.
Saudi Arabia has also enforced a blockade thus preventing vital aid reaching the over 80% of the Yemeni population that depends on it.
- Enforced malnutrition is being used as a weapon of war and is now causing most of the deaths.
- Every ten minutes a Yemeni child under the age of five dies due to the cruel blockade.
- 400,000 Yemeni children are at risk of dying according to the director of the UN World Food Programme.
- 11 million children need aid in the world’s worst humanitarian disaster in our lifetime.
- The UN estimates that 50% of health-care facilities have shut down in a conflict that has displaced more than 3.6 million people, over 80% of which are women and child
Richard Boyd Barrett said today,
“Given the willingness of European governments and the Irish government to impose sanctions on Russia, the big question is, is this new found opposition to war going to lead to action being taken on Saudi Arabia for its role in the murderous war on Yemen?”
“Are Western governments against warmongering in general or does it depend on who the warmonger is?”
“We are calling for an end to arms sales and an end to the arming of these regimes by the EU and it’s allies and for the immediate lifting of the blockade to allow vital humanitarian aid to reach those who need it”.
Dr. Hashem and Abdulaziz Almoayyad will be available for interview and comment following the briefing.
