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SYRIA

12,4 million people, equal to 60% of the population, now lives in a condition of food insecurity. Which adds to the violence, displacement and lack of access to essential services. 6,5 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance, 800 are malnourished and 2,5 million do not go to school. (1)

Syria, 6 out of 10 without food

'6 out of 10 Syrian citizens they literally don't know how to get food. In the area around Damascus, people queue for hours and hours for bread, while children look for something to eat in the rubbish. To survive, many families are getting into debt, or rationing the number of meals.

These are the effects unspeakable of a forgotten conflict, in a country where 90% of the population lives below the poverty line, the unemployment rate has reached 60% and the minimum monthly wage in the public sector is 26 dollars' (Paolo Pezzati, Oxfam Italy, policy adviser for humanitarian emergencies).

Syria, some testimonies

Oxfam interviewed 300 Syrians in the government areas of Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor and rural Damascus. 88% of respondents said they only eat bread, rice and occasionally vegetables (with severe protein deficiencies). 60% said they were earning less than necessary for their food needs. 10% rely only on bread and tea to survive and only 1,5% can rarely afford to buy meat.

'It makes no sense to us think about tomorrow, if we don't know what to put on the table today to feed our children', says Hala, who lives in Deir-ez-Zor, one of the areas most devastated by war, where Oxfam is working to rescue the population. 'I work 13 hours a day to feed my children, but it doesn't seem to be enough'continues Majed who lives in the governorate of Rural Damascus. 'Sometimes I wish the day would last more than 24 hours to work harder. I am very tired and I do not know if we will be able to survive'. (2)

Syria, prospects

The President Bashar al Assad flew to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates, UAE), on 18.3.22, for the first time since the start of the war in Syria. Thus we can see the possible relaxation of relations, already achieved by Assad with Egypt, and the return of Syria to the Arab League.

The recovery of collaborative relations in the Middle East will certainly benefit the Syrian economy and population. Moreover, the United Arab Emirates appear to be oriented towards the development of network wider, which also look to China, Russia and India. (3)

YEMEN

UN agencies dealing with humanitarian affairs - FAO, UNICEF and World Food Program (WFP) - have intervened in recent weeks to report how desperate the situation is, in Syria and Yemen. And how the already terrible food crisis is one step away from becoming a real catastrophe. (4)

Yemen, the war

24.600 air strikes since the start of the conflict in 2014, they have destroyed 40% of homes in all cities in the country. Since 2017, the Civilian Impact Monitoring (UN) recorded 14.554 civilian casualties. And since the United Nations stopped monitoring human rights violations in October 2021, the number of civilian casualties has doubled.

War forced over 4 million people to flee their homes in search of safety and over 1 million are now displaced in the governorate of Marib, which has become the epicenter of the conflict, where in recent months there have been more deaths and injuries due to mines around the cities, scattered by retreating forces to slow their opponents.

Yemen, hunger

17,4 million people including 2,2 million children in Yemen today suffer from hunger. And it is estimated that by the end of the year, acute malnutrition will affect 19 million individuals, or 62% of the population. 8 million more than at the start of the conflict in 2014. Since then, 4,8 million more people have survived on humanitarian aid alone.

What Dongyu, FAO Director-General, recalled that 'FAO is working directly with farmers on the ground to promote their self-sufficiency through a combination of emergency and long-term livelihood support, to strengthen their resilience, support local agri-food production and offset people's dependence on imports'.

Aids (which are missing)

'Italy confirms 5,6 million dollars (5 million euros), a figure that places our country at the bottom of the list of donors, far from the USA which pledged for 585 million dollars, Germany for 123 million, Great Britain for 118 millions. But also clearly below other European countries such as Sweden (35 million), Denmark (19 million) and France (16 million) and settling at the same levels as Ireland'(Paolo Pezzati, Oxfam Italy, policy adviser for humanitarian emergencies).

Business and necro-politics

The arms industry in Italy, on the other hand, it has achieved great deals with the Saudi regime responsible for the humanitarian tragedy in Yemen. I am indeed Made in Italy bombs (RWM Italia) and machine guns (Beretta), but also Eurofighter fighter-bombers (Leonardo & C.).

I top gun of Saudi Arabia they are trained in the Flight Schools of the Italian Air Force in Galatina (Lecce), Frosinone and Pratica di Mare (Rome). Meanwhile Mario Draghi, with the 'democratic' Lorenzo Guerini and the pentastellato Luigi Di Maio are preaching peace by sending weapons to Ukraine.

#NotInOurName

Dario Dongo

Cover image by EPA Photo from Daily Sabak https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/lockdowns-prompt-further-food-insecurity-in-war-torn-countries