Dear John,

On Monday, March 1st, Sweden and Switzerland will host a donor conference for Yemen and are hoping to raise $3.8 billion. After almost six years of brutal war, Yemen desperately needs humanitarian assistance. The U.S., after participating in Yemen’s destruction, cut USAID funding almost a year ago. Call on the United States to restore USAID funding and pledge a billion and some change more to Yemen. 

The United States cut off 80% of USAID funding to Yemen, which was a little over $70 million. The U.S. owes a hell of a lot more than that to Yemen. And if U.S. officials are going to attend this conference asking other nations to pledge money, then they better lead by example. The conference is hoping that the U.S. pledges $1 billion, so let’s call on the U.S. to pledge even more! We are calling on the U.S. to pledge at least $1.2 billion which was the number suggested by Oxfam’s Fair Assessment.

We’ve been keeping up with what’s going on in Yemen. Millions of people are on the brink of famine. While Biden ended “offensive” support for the war, we don’t even really know what that means quite yet. While we figure that out, Yemenis still live under a suffocating blockade that stops goods from entering the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Gloria Steele need to restore and expand aid to Yemen, by like… a lot. Add your name to the petition! 

This call to action is urgent and time-sensitive. There are only a few days left until the donor conference on March 1st. The more signatures we get, the better. Make sure to call on your friends and family to sign the petition as well! We need all hands on deck to make sure Yemen gets the money it is owed. We know the United States has the cash — just look at how much we spent on helping Saudi Arabia and the UAE attack Yemen! It’s time to restore aid and it’s time for the United States to start reconciling its involvement in the war. The U.S. owes a lot more to Yemen than just stopping arms sales and “offensive” support to the coalition, and pledging at least $1.2 billion in aid is a great place to start. 

Toward Peace, 
Danaka, Ariel, Carley, Ann, Angela, Ciara, Cody, Emily, Farida, Grace, Jodie, Kelsey, Leila, Leonardo, Maxine, Mary, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Sana, and Teri.

P.S. On February 25 at 5:30 PM PT/8:30 PM ET, join us for a webinar exploring the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to Military pipeline. RSVP here for the webinar!