Below is the text of a press release issued today by the YPP. LONG BEACH, CA, April 15, 2015 – Volunteers from Google are working with the Yemen Peace Project to spearhead an effort to meet the acute humanitarian needs of Yemenis caught in the crossfire between local warring factions and regional powers in a conflict that is endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions.

To facilitate the delivery of aid directly to those who need it most, the Yemen Peace Project--with help from Google's Rayman Aryani and Dan Massey, who are donating their time and skills--has launched a donation portal hosted at wwwyemenpeaceproject.org/emergency/. The portal lists the most effective international NGOs with proven track records in Yemen and includes links that enable concerned visitors to donate directly to these organizations’ Yemen programs.

Yemen Peace Project Executive Director William Picard has launched this appeal to support organizations working inside Yemen to help meet the dire needs of those hardest hit by the continuing violence across the country. Yemen’s borders are effectively closed, and food and medical supplies are in short supply, making Yemenis’ situation all the more desperate.

“Yemen has always been a difficult place for aid agencies to work, and the ongoing war is making their jobs much harder, while creating more and more victims who need their help. We’ve launched this appeal to help organizations on the ground bring food, water, and medical assistance to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible,” Picard said.

“Millions of Yemenis are living in the crossfire right now. In just a few weeks of war, hundreds of civilians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Millions more have had their access to water, food, fuel, electricity, and medical care disrupted or completely cut off,” he continued. “The people of Yemen didn’t ask for this war, and they need the world’s help to survive it. We’re launching this appeal to help bring life-saving relief to those most at risk.”

Google employees Rayman Aryani and Dan Massey collaborated with the Yemen Peace Project to launch the emergency donation portal. Aryani has listened to heartbreaking accounts of misery and violence from his own friends and family in Yemen, who are living in the midst of street battles between local militias and relentless aerial bombardment from a Saudi-led coalition of states.

“The civil war in Yemen has pushed the country beyond the brink to a full-scale human catastrophe, with the lack of food, potable water, medicine, fuel, power, and basic services putting millions upon millions of people at risk,” Aryani said. “As I gut-wrenchingly watch from afar the death and destruction happening in Yemen, the least I can do is set up a platform to empower the public to donate.”

The Yemen Peace Project’s web portal includes links for visitors to donate directly to the Yemen programs of several effective international organizations, including:

• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF),
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
• World Food Programme (WFP),
• International Organization for Migration (IOM),
• Islamic Relief,
• The United Nations Foundation.

Yemen Peace Project staff will remain in close contact with representatives of these NGOs to provide updates on the humanitarian relief efforts taking place in Yemen. The Yemen Peace Project will also publish alerts when new areas of need arise.

To donate, visit www.yemenpeaceproject.org/emergency/

For more information, visit yemenpeaceproject.org

About the Yemen Peace Project:

Founded in 2010, the Yemen Peace Project works to transform the relationship between the United States and Yemen by promoting understanding between Americans and Yemenis and advocating for a peaceful, constructive foreign policy.

Although humanitarian relief is not one of the YPP's core programs, the organization has a history of mobilizing resources during acute crises. During Yemen's popular uprising of 2011, the YPP was the first foreign organization to send funds--raised from YPP supporters in the US and Europe--to the field hospitals that treated wounded pro-democracy demonstrators. In 2012, the YPP held a Ramadan fundraising campaign to help local activists feed needy families in San'a and other cities.

The Yemen Peace Project is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of California.

For press inquiries contact William Picard: picard@yemenpeaceproject.org, +1 (202) 297-1455.

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