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by Fuad Rajeh
SANAA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Suffering is not new to the Yemeni people who have been coping with crises since chaos started in the country in 2011.
"It is just the toughest time ever. Some days we fast 24 hours, sometimes more. We have never faced such harsh conditions. There is no way to do something over it and, in most cases, there is no one to help us," said Eman, a 35-year mother of five kids, and wife of a mentally-ill husband.
Eman and her nine-member family lived in a two-room house. Her father and mother in law live with them. The father in law is very sick after he fell to the ground. He can't walk, just lying on mattress.
"I am the only supporter of my family. My husband is mentally-ill. I don't work and got so tired of searching for job in such circumstances. I roamed almost whole Sanaa to find a job. Every time, I came back empty handed and with frustration," she said, adding that neither the government nor the aid agencies have come up to help them.
Since the conflict escalated after Saudi-led military intervention began in March 2015, crises have aggravated with 82 percent of total 21 million population, are in dare need for basic aid, says the UN.
The UN also said 19 million people lack access to safe water, 14 million lack access to healthcare and 14.4 million are food insecure. The UN OCHA in Yemen is appealing for funds as it says they are still very short.
It said that the country now needs 1.8 billion U.S. dollar-worth of humanitarian aid, yet only 19 percent has been given.
Local aid agencies say they are facing problems including lack of funds and difficulties of getting into the most affected areas because of endless warfare.
Fatik Al-Roudaini, director of Mona Relief, said conditions at refugee camps are so bad, noting that health care, sanitation, furniture and foods are badly needed.
FALTERING TALKS
The UN-backed peace talks between Yemen's warring parties in Kuwait have so far made no notable progress. Sources in Kuwait reveal that some parties took the talks back to zero stage every time progress appeared to be close.
Observers argued that the UN is just delaying the announcement of the talks failure.
Besides lack of good will from Yemeni factions, the UN is to blame for failure to make a breakthrough at the peace talks, said Fuad Alsalahi, a political sociology professor at Sanaa University.
"The talks started and are continuing without initial agreement from all to what they should talk about. They are in a vicious circle and that is why the process will fail," Alsalahi said.
Nageeb Ghallab, a politics professor at Sanaa University, said on his Facebook page that the UN will not be able to make the talks a success if it fails to deal strictly over references including UN resolutions that the talks are based on.
"The divisions between the Yemeni factions are still huge putting the international community before a difficult test. The UN should bridge the gap between the factions first," Gallab said.
The talks are being focused on three issues, the military and security and how end the conflict, releasing prisoners and restoring state facilities in order to lay the groundwork for a political deal. Enditem
