why the bus got stuck. ♪ time for a check of the headlines. the former brazilian president lula is set for a political comeback. a judge has annulled his conviction for corruption and this stores his right to contest next year's presidential election. we have reaction from rio de janeiro. reporter: you can see the division on social media, any celebrated the decision, saying this proves that lula was an a sense all along and it was political persecution, and there are those criticizing the decision, saying it shows

corruption is still at large and resident bolsonaro should stay in power to fight it because he ran with that slogan on his campaign. anchor: the senegalese opposition leader is calling for large, peaceful protests. he addressed supporters after being charge with rape and released on bail. arrested triggered the worst unrest in years, with at least eight people dead. >> this mobilization must be maintained and must be much larger, but it must above all be peaceful. it must be peaceful. the people have regained the right that sall confiscated -- that sall confiscated. we must not lose this right. anchor: equatorial guinea's government says the number of people killed at an explosion at a military base has risen. the president says the blast was caused by the mishandling of

dynamite. the united nations human rights chief is urging myanmar's police to allow protesters to leave safely and without reprisals. three people have been killed in monday's rallies. fully vaccinated americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to new guidance from health officials. the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention is also advising fully vaccinated people that they do not need to quarantine if coming into contact with someone positive. those are the headlines. the news continues here on al jazeera. thank you for watching. ♪

anchor: the united nations says williams of people in yemen are at risk and billions of dollars is required. who will step in to help the people of yemen? this is "inside story." hello and welcome to the program. yemen is heading toward large-scale starvation and could face the world's worst famine in decades. the u.n. morning comes as malnutrition rates hit record highs after years of conflict. the world body estimates more than 16 million yemenis could go hungry this year. children are particularly affected with 400,000 at risk of severe malnutrition. the u.n. has appealed for $3.8 billion to avert a catastrophe,

that it says it only has half of what is needed as of last year, and millions of people have not received any food at all. the saudi military coalition has been fighting houthi rebels since it started supporting the yemeni government. 80% of the yemeni population is in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and half a million live in "famine like conditions" in 5 million more are one step behind them. nearly 64% of yemen's internally displaced people like income or access to food. poverty is widespread and schools and hospitals are barely functioning while tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict. ♪ let's bring in our guest. we have a spokeswoman for the norwegian refugee council. we have a yemen researcher at

human rights watch. we have a senior research fellow at oxford university's pembroke college. ladies, welcome to you all. why does the war in yemen keep on going on for so many years now, almost off the radar? >> i would hope it is not off the radar, because i do think organizations like our own have been raising the alarm for the last number of years now. the situation has gone from bad to worse and then unbelievably even worse again. you will have seen the warnings lately that yemen is facing imminent famine, and famine or no famine, the terrible reality is people are already dying. we just don't know the numbers because it is so difficult to collect data here. we are seeing malnutrition stunting an entire population of children. the toll this is taking on an

entire country is hard to get across. i hope we are doing a good job of doing that. the families we meet are paralyzed by the conflict continuing, and nobody can rebuild their lives or return home, we are seeing farmers moved off their lands, homes hit again again, millions forced out of their homes. roads, schools, hospitals all attacked and damaged. now there is a situation where half the population will go hungry this year. 5 million people on the brink of famine. that means the smallest episode will take them over. anchor: will it be as bad as it has been and perhaps it will be if the country was not, in effect, in a bubble of sealed orders and airspace? >> yes, i think even prior to the conflict, yemen was ranked

as the poorest nation for many years. the conflict, the current contacts where gulf countries surrounding yemen are coming into this coalition, bombing yemen for nearly six years now while targeting civilians, it is having a terrible impact on the civilian population. i think it is very important to mention that the parties to the conflict have weaponized the economy. that is one of the main factors for the dire situation on the ground. in effect, on the ground, you find north yemen and south human -- yemen are not dealing with

the same yemeni currency. the currency in the south cannot be used in the north, because of the split of the central bank in yemen. there are so many factors playing a major role in the humanitarian crisis, but definitely the parties to the conflict have shown systematic abusive practices that are contributing to this system of suffering. anchor: is one of the big issues here, we are talking about the state because of another running basically saying the country is on the tipping point of famine -- we could have said that a year ago or two years ago or three years ago. the reality is despite the consequences of that, if we were able to say a state of famine now exists in the country, that would focus minds in the region and around the world, that we can't say that because we cannot pin down the data because the country is sealed. >> that is exactly the problem.

in fact, we are always hearing yemen is on the brink of famine and yet it never seems to have an actual famine glared that would focus minds more sharply. the problem is that it is impossible to access the data required to actually declare a famine. we have managed to stave off famine in the past by very generous funding, generous aid, before covid, in times when governments were still willing to give aid. at the moment, we cannot declare a famine because there is not enough data, although we can see that children and civilians are starving, and at the same time, aid has been dramatically cuts. it was astonishing to see at the beginning of march that the u.n. appeal for just under $4 billion did not even reach half its

target. understandably, countries around the world have other things to worry about, they have a pandemic at home, but if we could only get the data to declare a famine, i am sure countries would be more generous. it would be a wake-up call to the whole world. anchor: is there another unique aspect to the war in yemen -- you have 3 million internally displaced people. if it was a "normal" conflict in the middle east, those 3 million would not be internally displaced, there would be across neighboring borders and take stories with them and make people feel very uncomfortable. regionally, there would have to be a reaction. in that regard, there is no strong momentum of a reaction because people are not being made to feel awkward because they are not looking at pictures of hundreds of thousands or

millions of people living in refugee camps across the border. >> it is an interesting point you raise and my organization is the norwegian refugee council, and typically the people we help our refugees, they have fled in search of safety. i would not say yemen is unique because there is a similar situation in parts of syria, but abnormal is a good word. we have 4 million out of a population of 30 million displaced from their homes because of a tremendously traumatic event. people have fled, often with no warning and taking nothing with them, to other parts of the country. one of the striking things i have seen is how much yemeni people have helped each other. they have been sharing food with neighbors, taking people in one family we talked to were taken in by another family who themselves were living in a tattered tent, but they made

room for the other family. the yemeni people have shown incredible fortitude over the last six years, but they are the dutch are at the end of their resources. they are exhausted. the exchange rate against the dollar is a quarter of what it was. food prices have doubled, jobs have been lost in the thousands. people who formerly had steady incomes, respected jobs, are begging on the streets. we have these pockets of famine. i am really glad elizabeth brought up some of the issues with the difficulty in declaring a famine. at any point, by the time famine is declared, it is too late. the technical definition of famine means there has to be a certain nber of people already dying. we are saying we need to act now, this is e last opportunity we have to stave off massive scale famine. it is breaking out in districts,

30,000 people living in famine conditions. we cannot afford to wait. anchor: does your heart sink in the way i suspect elizabeth's does when you realize you have to engage with the reality about the aid budgets being cut around the world? i don't know what it is like in sweden or how much sweden contributes to the aid budget for yemen, that in the u.k., boris johnson's government in the past 24 hours confirming they are literally cutting in half what they are giving to yemen. even if it could get there in the first place, half the money will not be on the table. >> can i just follow up on some of the points the other speakers mentioned? erfor me, there is no use in waiting for the famine to be declared i think it is important

to take action now. we have so many indicators, we have one point after another after another about the violations and abuse, international aid, and what aid workers are experiencing, obstacles, harassment and other abuses. i am just wondering what the world international community is waiting for. are they waiting for yemenis to not be able to bury each other? to not be as tentative as the little children, the graphic images, dying and starving on camera? i am very out of words. what are we waiting for? we've had so many reports where top humanitarian officials are saying we will see a famine we have never seen before in history, like what we will see in yemen.

it is shocking, shocking, the moral responsibility of the international community -- sweden, the u.k., the gulf ridge countries have a huge moral responsibility. yemenis's livelihood have been targeted systematically in the conflict. the farmers, the fishermen, commercial trade, businesses, all of them have been targeted and shut down. this is a man-made humanitarian disaster and it is shocking what the world is waiting for. do they really want to see a famine in yemen and then they take action? it is shocking. anchor: are the eight agencies in the people of yemen may be waiting for a touch of clarity from countries that have got more leverage inside yemen than other countries have got?

and yet we have to offset that against the reality, so many countries are not turning their back on yemen but they are turning away from yemen. >> i think the reality is just as bad as was described. but the reality for potential donor countries is they have their own concerns to worry about, and yemen is slipping down the agenda. we hate it and think it is wrong but that is the reality. what i might say is if they cannot get more of the eight required, they could have more political will to solve the crisis in yemen. because of course, no matter how much aid you throw at yemen, it is not going to solve underlying problems, it's like trying to put out an oil fire with a bucket of water. you can keep the flames at bay,

but ultimately it is the war that needs to end and everybody recognizes that. just up the humanitarian crisis, you have to stop the war. anchor: let me boil that down into another formulated question. you were nodding listening to elizabeth in london. stopping the war in yemen -- well, i want to say good luck with that one, because it seems to me you have three conflicts. you've got the government in exile, you got the houthis, and the people who want the southern half of the country to be independent. you have the external actors who wanted to be put back to what used to be 5, 6, seven years ago, but maybe that's not the best plan for yemen in the first place. >> the other day i was thinking about this and tweeting, the biden administration might be able to end the saudi war in yemen, but you will be able to enter the houthi war?

the war has fragmented the country into so many pieces. the houthi military offensive, advance, this is a major chapter of the yemeni conflict. even iran, there are reports from news websites how even iran could consider this as a decisive battle in the conflict in yemen. you have all of these parties laying a major role in how the war will end, and what kind of yemen we will see. but it is very important to find any solution that will end the humanitarian suffering on the ground. i think for the biden administration and even the u.n. , there are so many u.n. envoys trying to solve the conflict but

nothing has been translated into concrete steps today. we only see an escalation of violence, but no escalation of solutions. without finding a political solution or and to the conflict, -- or end to the conflict, we will not findan end to the mandatory crisis. anchor: would you agree that it is not just a war in yemen as a war on yemen, and joe biden, we touched on this, what he came up with on february 4 is ok but b does not go beyond symbolism. what was more effective is when the trumpet ministration said we are stepping back from doing midair refueling. that had more impact in the skies over yemen. >> these conflicts are very complicated.

we talk about the escalation of the war starting six years ago when the saudi led coalition became involved, but the conflict had begun many years before that. it is a local conflict but it also has the involvement in the nature of the saudi led coalition, allegations that iran has been supporting. the two parts are coming together. the question of whether there is a likelihood that the war can be brought to an end, i don't think we have a choice. i don't think anyone wants a famine of historic proportions on their hands, and was pointed out, this is a man-made humanitarian crisis. there would be no kind of war in yemen if not for this conflict. we saw last year the exchange of political prisoners, the first positive step in a long time. it shows there is some consensus that can be built upon, and there are efforts in the u.n.

-led peace process that are trying to bring what is happening to the attention of the international community. we are calling upon the u.n. security council to take an active role in this. we believe the war can be ended. we believe the first step could be a famine prevention cease-fire. there are the steps in place to start with a negotiated, political solution. a military solution has been tried for the last six years of this war and we have seen the dire consequences. anchor: that kind of his a perfect portrait of all of the negatives and variables here. we have seen the u.n. envoy recently in tehran for two days and three nights. we don't know what came out of that conversation. that is a conduit of communication that is a requirement. if you're going to have a peace

process, the peace process has to include all of the people all of the time, and on top of that, the united states basically needs to get the saudis into a different place as well they need to get riyadh to go from being poacher to gamekeeper. >> conjuring trick sums it up. we have a war involved at three different levels the international level, the regional level, in particular saudi arabia, uae, and to some extent oman and of course iran. then we have the domestic level. all of those levels need to be resolved in order for the conflict to be resolved. ultimately it has to be up to the yemeni people, what can peel away the different international

lawyers --layers. but the conflict was domestically generated and will have to be domestically resolved. that is obviously easier said than done, but before we criticize the biden administration -- as you say, it is complex. what needs to happen is a space. is created via a cease-fire for the different groups to be dealt with, to start to create the conditions for peace consultations. a cease-fire is absolutely imperative first to prevent starvation and famine, and perhaps there will be a space for peace talks. anchor: last word -- is there another aspect to this six years of death and destruction that

presidents and prime ministers and u.n. ambassadors don't get? they like simple conflicts, we go in, we, pullout and back to the status quo. the reality with yemen, you have over 230,000 people dead, 300 -- 3 million at least displaced. 3000 children dead. they were not killed by a bomb or a bullet. they lost their lives because hospitals are bombed, schools are bombed, roads are bombed, infrastructure is destroyed. that is something the peacemakers cannot really get a handle on. >> i just wish any after from the international community, the policymakers that are deciding what is happening in yemen to live one day in yemen without

electricity or water, without family or knowing where your next meal will come from. life has become unbearable for millions of civilians. i keep saying no justice, no peace, and it is so important to stress on this fact. as elizabeth was talking about, a multidimensional solution is needed, but it is important to listen how yemenis themselves see how justice will eventually prevail. it's not only about the human cost that are counted, but there are uncounted human costs in the conflict in yemen and it is very important to compensate all of these victims and really, without doing justice and achieving accountability, we will continue in a vicious cycle

of violence. anchor: very last point to you, in the next 30 seconds -- if we are not to use the word famine because we can't and it is maybe irrelevant to the reality on the ground, how do we focus minds on what is going on in the country? >> this is a preventable catastrophe that has been unfolding in slow motion for years. it is about to hit a point that will be difficult for the country to recover from and i think it will stain the conscience of the world for years to come. anchor: i thought provoking conversation, thank you for talking to us here on "inside story." thank you for watching. you can see the program anytime at al jazeera.com. you can join the conversation on her facebook page, or twitter.

for me and everyone on the team here in doha, thank you and we will see you very soon. for the moment, bye-bye. ♪

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♪♪♪ greta thunberg: you have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. how dare you. all: what do we want? climate justice. all: when do we want it? now. barbara miller: when a swedish teenager began skipping school last august to call for tough action on climate change, no one could have imagined it would lead to this. [all shouting] if we don't get it, shut it down. greta: people are suffering. people are dying. entire ecosystems are collapsing.