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Refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war , persecution, or natural disaster.

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The third anniversary of the war in Yemen is approaching, and there are few signs that the conflict, which is being fought between an armed military group called the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces, is abating.

Last month, the country was pushed into further uncertainty following the killing of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh by the Houthis. Saleh, a former Houthi ally who had switched allegiances to support the Saudi-led coalition, was an important figure in the war and his death has been viewed as cementing Houthi power, in the short term at least.

Read more: Top UN mediator for Yemen steps down

Beyond the political situation, humanitarian organisations have been reporting alarming statistics for the 28 million population. A third of the population is on the brink of starvation, almost 10,000 civilians have been killed or injured since March 2015, including 5,000 children, and a further 400,000 are severely malnourished. The World Health Organization says a cholera outbreak has to date affected 1 million people.

Yemen's war has not been an easy story for the international media to cover - a lack of access for foreign journalists and tight controls on local journalists have had an impact on how much coverage stories get - beyond the mere statistics. DW contacted people inside the country to find out more about what life is like in today's Yemen.
Ahmed (name changed) is a married father who works as an independent researcher in the capital Sana'a.
"We are trying to ignore this war. I tell myself every day that the war didn't affect me, that it hasn't defeated me. I do that to be able to continue because that's what I have to do. But in reality, deep down, we are surrounded by fears, a lot of fears. We are afraid of stupid airstrikes that target civilians more than any military targets. We are afraid of being arrested by the militia for nothing. We are afraid of losing our job or not getting a job. Fear of illness, of epidemics, of not getting medication...the list goes on.

Family tragedy: This picture was taken in a house which was destroyed, killing most of the family

The humanitarian situation is bad. Life is difficult for most people, and poverty is forcing a lot of people into becoming fighters. A year and a half has gone by and all state employees, even the soldiers, have not been paid yet. Many people had to look for other sources of income to keep them going and the number of beggars in streets has gone up. The more people try to adapt to the current situation, the more the conflict exacerbates and takes them back to the beginning."

Mohammed al-Qadhi is a foreign media war reporter based in the southwestern city of Taiz.

"This was a city that used to depend on small enterprises, it was a commercial city, and hugely populated. Many people would live in and around it. Today's Taiz is a different city - the humanitarian situation is more visible and catastrophic than in many of the other places in Yemen because of the amount of shelling and fighting that has been happening.

During my reporting I have come across miserable stories - I used to weep because of the calamity of the situation and the misery that people have endured. Home life is completely restricted. I have met women who are forced to stay indoors in the crossfire areas and people who have to go through tunnels because of Houthi snipers just to to go in and out of their houses.

The city of Taiz has been one of the hardest hit in the ongoing war in Yemen.

The death of Saleh means that the situation has become more complicated and there will be no peace agreement. But since Western media can't get in to report the story, Yemen has become a forgotten war."

Read more: Yemen conflict all but ignored by the West
Heba (name changed), 35, is the head of a Yemeni civil society organization based in Sana'a.
"I am one of the few lucky people who is still getting salary and able to purchase the items that I need but the overall situation is horrible, people cannot afford to buy what they need to meet their basic needs.

Life is getting very expensive because the blockade is creating a lack of supplies. In fact, the blockade is one of the most challenging issues that directly affect the daily lives of the poor as well as those with a good economic situation. It has been affecting the import and export of food items, clothing, and medicine.

Locals say the suffering for the children is one of the worst aspects of the war

We Yemenis feel neglected by the international community and feel like we are living on another planet. There are basic principles of war that protect civilians but they are not being followed. Yemenis are being attacked, killed and deprived from food and health supplies. Diseases are spreading and children are the most affected people. There are lots people who have lost their homes because they have to leave the conflict areas and move to safer places, or because their houses were damaged by the airstrikes.

Let our voices be heard. Let our victims be seen, support our children to live in peace and enjoy their lives like others do around the world."

Read more: War in Yemen: 'The world isn't paying enough attention'

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

Peace: An elusive future

Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. But neither side appears ready to compromise.

Author: Lewis Sanders IV

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Yemen's forgotten war: Locals tell their stories | DW | 22.01.2018

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The third anniversary of the war in Yemen is approaching, and there are few signs that the conflict, which is being fought between an armed military group called the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces, is abating. Last month, the country was pushed into further uncertainty following the killing of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh by the Houthis.

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We can help by giving them more food and planting fruit trees and vegetables . Also by helping the environment by watering it and planting grass to freshen up the air.

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Sadly there isn't much of a future for them. They are all dieing from starvation and their options are very slim.

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They are the Yemenese people and are gripped bye a deadly cholera outbreak. The kids have malnutrition. The kids have very small bones and papery skin. The starving rate for these people is very bad.

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Half the population of war-torn Yemen - 14 million people - are facing "pre-famine conditions", the UN has warned.

Humanitarian co-ordinator Mark Lowcock said survey work showed the number entirely reliant on aid for survival was three million higher than thought.

There was a clear danger of a famine "much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen during their working lives", he added.

Medics say the number of deaths linked to food-related factors is rising.

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened after the rebel Houthi movement seized control of much of the west of the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

At least 6,660 civilians have been killed and 10,560 injured in the war, according to the UN. The fighting and a partial blockade by the coalition have also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, created the world's largest food security emergency, and led to a cholera outbreak that has affected 1.1 million people.

Ending Yemen's never-ending war

Yemen conflict: Who is fighting whom?

In an address to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Mr Lowcock said famines were a rarity in the modern world, which made the situation in Yemen "shocking".

A famine is declared when three thresholds of food insecurity, acute malnutrition and mortality are together all breached. The three criteria are:

At least one in five households faces an extreme lack of food

More than 30% of children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition

At least two people out of every 10,000 are dying every day

Mr Lowcock said assessments conducted a year ago, which are currently being repeated, had found that in 107 of Yemen's 333 districts the first two thresholds were either already exceeded or dangerously close.

The third threshold about the number of deaths was more difficult to confirm.

He explained that many deaths were hidden because only half of Yemen's health facilities were functioning, and many Yemenis were too poor to access the ones that were open. Very few families report deaths at home.

However, at the end of 2017 the charity Save the Children estimated that 130 children were dying every day from extreme hunger and disease - or almost 50,000 during the course of a year.

The UN warned of famine in Yemen last year, but Mr Lowcock said the situation was "now much graver" for two reasons.

"Firstly, because of the sheer number of people at risk," he said. "Our revised assessment... is that the total number of people facing pre-famine conditions, meaning they are entirely reliant on external aid for survival, could soon reach not 11 million but 14 million."

"And secondly, beyond the sheer numbers, while millions of people have been surviving on emergency food assistance for years, the help they get is enough merely to survive. Not to thrive," he added.

"The toll is unbearably high. The immune systems of millions of people on survival support for years on end are now are literally collapsing, making them - especially children and the elderly - more likely to succumb to malnutrition, cholera and other diseases."

Mr Lowcock said the humanitarian crisis had been exacerbated by an economic crisis in Yemen and continued fighting around the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hudaydah, through which the country has traditionally imported 90% of its food.

He appealed for a cessation of hostilities around all infrastructure and facilities on which the aid operation relied; protection of the supply of food and essential goods; a larger injection of foreign exchange into the economy; increased funding for the humanitarian operation; and for all parties to engage in peace talks.

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Half the population of war-torn Yemen - 14 million people - are facing "pre-famine conditions", the UN has warned. Humanitarian co-ordinator Mark Lowcock said survey work showed the number entirely reliant on aid for survival was three million higher than thought.

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They are trapped in their towns.  Some trapped in the mountains . Some don't have cars to go to the hospital . There are rebels in the Yemen country in Shiite known as the the Houthi .

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the citizens are under pressure from the local athorities and the main health centers are flooded with the citizens of Yemen.

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They do not have a lot of food . There are gaps in the aid system .Malnuorished people is the biggest issue/threat in Yemen and there are 17,000 people have sever cases of malnourishment.