Sanaa: Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, Hollywood actress and a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Angelina Jolie visited Aden, Yemen on Sunday to provide aid and show solidarity with displaced families in Yemen.
Angelina Jolie took to her Instagram and wrote, “I’ve landed in Aden, to meet displaced families and refugees for UNHCR @refugees and show my support for the people of Yemen,” Jolie wrote in the caption. “I will do my best to communicate from the ground as the days unfold.”
The 46-year-old actress called the Yemen situation “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with one civilian killed or injured every hour in 2022. An economy devastated by war, and over 20 million Yemenis depending on humanitarian assistance to survive.”
She will be visiting Yemeni families, including displaced families and refugees, to hear directly from them how the conflict has ripped their lives apart.
“As we continue to watch the horrors unfolding in Ukraine, and call for an immediate end to the conflict and humanitarian access, I’m here in Yemen to support people who also desperately need peace.” she continued.
She further added, “This week a million people were forced to flee the horrific war in Ukraine. If we learn anything from this shocking situation, it is that we cannot be selective about who deserves support and whose rights we defend. Everyone deserves the same compassion. The lives of civilian victims of conflict everywhere are of equal value. After seven years of war, the people of Yemen also need protection, support and, above all, peace.”
UNHCR hopes her visit will highlight the increasing humanitarian needs in Yemen and help mobilize urgent support for humanitarian work ahead of the annual High-Level Pledging Conference for Yemen on 16 March, and call for regional and international actors to commit to an end to the conflict.
For nearly 7 years, Yemen has been witnessing a continuous war between forces loyal to the legitimate government backed by an Arab military coalition led by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled governorates, including Sanaa (north), since September 2014.
Until the end of 2021, the war killed 377,000 people and cost Yemen’s economy $126 billion in losses, and most of the population of about 30 million people became dependent on aid, in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the United Nations.
