06 March 2022; MEMO: Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visited the southern city of Aden on Sunday to draw attention to the catastrophic consequences of the 8-year conflict in Yemen, Anadolu Agency reported.
"She will be visiting Yemeni families, including displaced families and refugees, to hear directly from them how the conflict has ripped their lives apart," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
"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," it added.
Jolie, a special envoy for UNHCR, said her visit aims to show support to the Yemeni people.
"I will do my best to communicate from the ground as the days unfold," she said on her Instagram account. "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."
"The situation here is 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 added.
Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
The conflict has created one of the world's worst man-made humanitarian crises, with nearly 80% of the country, or about 30 million people, in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and more than 13 million are in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.
