International Center: Land and water conflicts claim 4 thousand people in Yemen annually
English - Sunday 06 November 2022 الساعة 06:29 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:
An international center on the impact of conflicts on civilians said that climate change has made the population of Yemen face great risks in their ability to obtain the necessary resources to survive or in the possibility of the conflict continuing in the future, noting that the latest statistics show that four thousand people are killed in Yemen annually due to the conflict over land and water.
The Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) stated in a recent report on the climate and conflict in Yemen, published by Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, that scientists have been discussing the threat posed by climate change in Yemen for decades, as one of the most water-poor countries in the world, and because Yemen is at risk of total drought, which will leave its 30 million people without water.
Water is a complex problem
In 2010, the World Bank expected the depletion of groundwater reserves in Yemen between 2030 and 2040, while the center said that this forecast has not changed to a large extent, while the “Century Foundation” published a report stating that even with the intensification of war, “the environmental crisis in Yemen is the greatest danger to its future,” he said, noting that although water scarcity in Yemen is a complex problem with multiple causes, climate change has led - and still is - exacerbating the problem. It also contributed to severe food shortages and famine throughout the country.
In addition to the threat that climate change poses to Yemenis’ ability to access water and food, these changes also threaten to exacerbate the conflict and provoke future conflicts due to competition for resources and migration, and this phenomenon is already evident in Yemen; The effects of climate change, along with the damage caused by the current armed conflict to the environment and vital resources, have contributed to resource scarcity and forced migration across the country, according to the report.
- Mine spread
The authors of the report stress that these effects, in turn, have led to increased protection threats, tensions between different communities over resources, and outbreaks of violence and local conflict. In the absence of sustainable and long-term solutions to mitigate the effects of both climate change and environmental destruction, they cautioned that the population of Yemen faces significant risks “both in their ability to obtain the resources needed to survive and in the possibility of the conflict continuing in the future.”
The report notes that the last eight years of conflict have "doubled the impacts of climate change on land, water and food" through the deterioration of basic government services, direct attacks on agricultural land and water sources, and the laying of landmines across large areas of agricultural land as well as near and within water sources.
The report says that the mismanagement of resources has been a problem for many decades in Yemen, where it began long before the outbreak of the war, but was exacerbated by it, as the collapse of government institutions due to non-payment of salaries since the beginning of the war - in addition to the broader effects of the fighting - led to the closure of many entities completely governmental or operating with minimal resources. In addition, there may be more than two million landmines scattered throughout the country.
Thousands of deaths annually
The Center states that it discussed the effects of climate change and the current conflict on people's access to resources, their livelihoods, and relations between and within societies, and concluded that, in addition to the environmental destruction caused by the warring parties, climate change is directly related to resource shortages. vitality, loss of livelihood and forced migration.
The report says that disputes over land and water in Yemen are not a new phenomenon. Walid Saleh, Senior Technical Adviser to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Aden, is quoted as saying that statistics provided by the Ministry of Interior in 2010 indicate that “disputes over land and water are the second largest cause of conflict in the country, with 4,000 people killed every year.” common in disputes over land and water.
The Center asserts that water and land scarcity remains to this day one of the biggest challenges facing Yemen, and continues to cause local conflicts throughout the country. As families flee the conflict, they end up fighting with the host communities there over limited water sources.
Two relief workers are credited with saying that climate change and environmental degradation have a multiplier effect on the drivers of conflict and exacerbate protection threats facing civilians, creating greater risks in relation to the ongoing and future conflicts in Yemen.
Threatening the right to life
According to the report, the combined effects of climate change and environmental degradation threaten the right of people in Yemen to life, food and water, and raise concerns regarding the protection of civilians with the outbreak of conflicts and the displacement of individuals due to the increasing shortage of resources. And if there has been no conflict due to climate change yet, “it presents a serious risk of causing conflict in the future.”
He said that many people living in camps have less access to safe and affordable water and food compared to their non-displaced counterparts.
Poverty and displacement, exacerbated by climate change and environmental degradation, have also contributed to child recruitment into armed groups and early marriage, with many children having to drop out of school to support their families.
The Center stated that efforts to end the current conflict and secure sustainable peace are a priority and a necessary first step to ensure the protection of civilians and end the widespread damage caused by the war, as well as to allocate more resources to rebuild the country.
The Office of the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Yemen has recommended ensuring that any peace process includes and prioritizes a plan to address the effects of climate change, environmental degradation and resource scarcity-related conflicts.
