Yemen at the Crossroads: Updates On the Humanitarian Crisis and What Congress Can Do About It

Start: 2021-10-26 15:00:00 UTC Eastern Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-04:00)

This is a virtual event

Panelists:
Hassan El-Tayyab – Friends Committee on National Legislation (moderator)
Aisha Jumaan, MPH, Ph.D. – Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
Bruce Riedel – The Brookings Institution
Annelle Sheline – Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Marcus Stanley - Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

Consideration of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act comes at a critical time for Yemen, as roughly 16.2 million people in Yemen are at risk of famine. Aid agencies have described Yemen as the worst place in the world to be a child, with the conflict claiming the lives of at least 85,000 children from hunger and disease. The UN warned this year, 400,000 children under the age of 5 could perish from severe acute malnutrition this year without urgent action. The House of Representatives recently passed amendments by Rep. Khanna and Chairman Meeks which respectively seek to end and limit U.S. participation in the war. The text of the Senate NDAA also contains provisions seeking to limit U.S. involvement.

Despite growing pressure from lawmakers, civil society, and Yemeni-American activists against the Saudi blockade of Yemen, during the month of September only 9.5% of Yemen’s fuel needs were allowed to enter the country’s Red Sea ports. While the Biden Administration has promised to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition's war, and has publicly acknowledged opposition to the blockade, there has been no confirmation that the US has meaningfully pressured Saudi Arabia to lift the blockade nor has the US fully ended support for the Saudi-led coalition. Meanwhile, the world's worst humanitarian crisis continues in Yemen.

For this event, panelists will: offer updates on the blockade, ongoing humanitarian crisis, and the US's role; highlight stories from the ground in Yemen; offer perspectives on what role Congress can play in ending U.S. involvement in the war and blockade, including analysis of provisions in the NDAA.

This event is being sponsored by Demand Progress, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Sponsored by