WOMEN IN THE WORLD: UNSUNG HEROES

> NOTHING IS MORE DAMAGING TO A COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE THAN A CIVIL WAR.

I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE WAR DEVASTATING SYRIA.

THIS WAR HAS GARNERED FOR FEWER HEADLINES AND INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION.

YET, THIS BRUTAL CONFLICT HAS BEEN DRUDGING ON FOR THREE CATASTROPHIC YEARS.

I'M TALKING ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR IN YEMEN.

OVER THE COURSE OF THE CONFLICT, OVER 10,000 YEMENESE HAVE DIED, AND 122 MILLION ARE IN NEED OF HUMANITARIAN HELP.

THE WORK OF HUMANITARIAN AID GROUPS LIKE CARE ARE CRUCIAL.

JOINING ME TO TALK ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR IS A WOMAN DISPLACED BY THE WAR HERSELF AND SHE'S OVERSEEING OUTREACH WORK WHILE STILL RAISING HER OWN SCHOOL AGED SON.

SHE JOINS ME NOW.

WELCOME TO THE PROGRAM.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

SO, FIRST, I JUST WANT TO GET A SENSE OF WHAT IS IT THAT WE'RE MISSING FROM THE HEADLINES WHEN IT COMES TO THE WAR IN YEMEN?

I THINK WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YEMEN IS JUST BEING FORGOTTEN BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, AND IT'S NOT BEING REACHED WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHAT'S HAPPENING BECAUSE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE IN NEED NOW IS IN MILLIONS.

IT'S NOT THOUSANDS OR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OR SOMETHING, IT'S 22.2 MILLION THAT ARE IN DESPERATE NEED FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, LIKE, DEATH AND LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND WOMEN WHO ARE DYING ON A DAILY BASIS.

AND WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE BEING STARVED, ARE THEY EXPOSED TO A LOT OF DISEASE, OR WHAT KIND OF HUMANITARIAN CRISIS EXACTLY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

IT'S MULTIPLE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BECAUSE WE HAVE PEOPLE DYING EVERY DAY.

WE HAVE PEOPLE STARVING.

WE ARE IN THE BRINK OF -- 11 MILLION PEOPLE ARE IN THE BRINK OF FAMINE.

AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HOMELESS PEOPLE, TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR INCOME RESOURCES, THEIR LIVES, THEIR HOUSES, THEIR BELOVED ONES.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING FOR SEVERAL REASONS, EITHER FROM AIR STRIKES OR INTERNAL CONFLICT, OR FROM EPIDEMICS LIKE CHOLERA, DIPHTHERIA AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF DISEASES.

THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH A RELIEF ORGANIZATION WHEN YOU, YOURSELF, WERE A VICTIM OF THIS CONFLICT?

I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH CARE SINCE 2010 WHEN I JOINED CARE INTERNATIONAL.

AND THEN SINCE THEN I STARTED BY CAREER WITH THEM.

AND WHEN THE LATEST EVENTS HAPPENED IN 2015 I WAS ALREADY IN THE HUMANITARIAN WORK.

AND I GOT DISPLACED FROM THE AREA WHERE WE WERE LIVING, WHERE I WAS OVERSEEING MORE THAN 20 STAFF AT THAT TIME.

AND THEN WE WERE PROVIDING HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO SOME DISPLACED PEOPLE.

AT THAT TIME IT WAS JUST UNBELIEVABLE THAT I WAS -- THE DAY I MOVED OUT OF MY HOUSE, LEAVING EVERYTHING BEHIND US, EVEN NOT ABLE TO TAKE MY CHILD'S TOYS WITH ME, HE WAS TELLING ME, MOMMY, CAN WE TAKE MY TOYS WITH US?

I WAS LIKE WE HAVE LESS THAN TWO HOURS TO LEAVE AND I HAD TO ORGANIZE EVERYBODY'S DEPARTURE AT THAT TIME BECAUSE IT WAS REALLY CRITICAL.

AIR STRIKES WERE SO HEAVY AND WE HAD TO RUN FOR OUR LIVES.

SO I TOLD HIM WE CAN'T COME BACK IN TWO WEEKS OR A MONTH MAXIMUM.

IT NEVER HAPPENED.

WE NEVER CAME BACK.

EVERYTHING WAS JUST DESTROYED.

AND WHILE ALL OF THAT SOUNDS SO DEVASTATING, I HAVE TO IMAGINE THAT FOR A YOUNG CHILD, AND FOR ALL OF THE YOUNG CHILDREN WHO ARE LIVING THROUGH THIS CRISIS THAT IT'S THAT MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL.

SO DO YOU MIND SHARING WITH US WHAT THIS HAS BEEN LIKE FOR YOUR OWN SON?

IT HAS BEEN LIKE SO MUCH DIFFICULT FOR HIM.

IT'S SO HARD FOR HIM ALSO TO ADOPT AND TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE LIKE ANY OTHER CHILDREN IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.

WOW.

I HAVE TO ASK, HOW IS THE U.S., WHICH CONSIDERS ITSELF, WE CONSIDER OURSELVES TO BE A VERY, YOU KNOW, SORT OF GENEROUS AND ALTRUISTIC COUNTRY, HOW ARE WE VIEWED IN YEMEN RIGHT NOW CONSIDERING WHAT'S GOING ON?

I THINK THERE ARE HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT FROM U.S.

ORGANIZATIONS THAT IS SUPPORTING THE HUMANITARIAN ACTORS IN YEMEN.

BUT I THINK IT'S NOT THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD BE DONE TOWARDS THE YEMEN CRISIS RIGHT NOW.

WHATEVER SUPPORT CAN BE PROVIDED TO YEMEN IS NOT ENOUGH BECAUSE THE MAIN THING THAT NEEDS TO BE LIKE SUPPORTED IS LIKE PROVIDING PEACE TO THE YEMENI PEOPLE AND TO END THIS.

OUT OF 27 MILLION, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT 22.2 MILLION PEOPLE IN NEED.

HOW MUCH LEFT?

FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEING THIS AND FEEL AS THOUGH THEY WOULD WANT TO DO SOMETHING, WHAT IS IT THAT THE AVERAGE NEW YORKER CAN DO TO SUPPORT THE PEOPLE IN YEMEN?

I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD ADVOCATE FOR PEACE FOR YEMEN IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND LIKE PROVIDE THE SUPPORT, THE FUNDING TO HUMANITARIAN WORKERS IN YEMEN TO DO THE LIFE SAVINGS.

BUT I WOULD TALK PEACE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

WELL, WHAT DOES THAT PEACE LOOK LIKE IN YEMEN?

WHAT DOES A PEACEFUL YEMEN LOOK LIKE?

ENDING THE CONFLICT, ENDING THE DEATH OF CHILDREN, INNOCENT WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN YEMEN.

THAT WOULD BE THE PEACE THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

ALL RIGHT.

WELL, LISTEN, I WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US ON THE PROGRAM.

AND BRINGING THIS IMPORTANT STORY OF HUMANITARIAN CRISIS TO THE FOREFRONT BECAUSE, AS I SAID EARLIER, IT DOESN'T GET NEARLY ENOUGH ATTENTION THAT IT SHOULD BE GETTING.

IT DOESN'T, YEAH, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING THIS INTO THE WORLD SO PEOPLE CAN KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

THANKS A LOT.