International non-government organisations (INGOs) in Yemen strongly condemn horrific Coalition airstrikes on a bus transporting school children in Yemen Thursday 9th August. This bombing follows an unacceptable trend of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure by parties to Yemen’s conflict. The killing of dozens of children has escalated the depravity of a war creating untold loss and destruction for people in Yemen.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is entirely man-made. Attacks of the kind seen in Sa’ada yesterday are killing and injuring civilians, destroying critical infrastructure and driving more Yemeni people from their homes. Yemen’s slow decline into famine and disease is not a coincidence but the product of ongoing violence with grossly unfair consequences for millions of civilians.

We appeal to all parties to this conflict to make public commitments to cease attacks on civilians. We call for an immediate investigation into yesterday’s attacks by an independent panel of UN experts and meaningful support from members of the UN Security Council to the political process being led by the UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths. There is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen. Parties to the conflict, including the governments that continue to arm and support them, must be held to account for actions that violate International Humanitarian Law and continue to fuel a preventable crisis.

Signed,

Action Against Hunger
ADRA
CARE
Danish Refugee Council
Global Communities
Handicap International
INTERSOS
International Rescue Committee
Islamic Relief
Médecins du Monde
Mercy Corps
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam
Relief International
Save the Children
War Child UK
ZOA