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Sarah Vuylsteke worked as the Access Coordinator for the United Nations World Food Programme in Yemen from February to December 2019. In this position, she traveled throughout the country, interacting with representatives from all sides of the conflict trying to facilitate aid delivery. Since 2015, she has worked for the United Nations and other international organizations in South Sudan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Afghanistan. Prior to 2015, Vuylsteke worked on human rights and conservation issues in Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. She has an LLM in Public International Law from the University of Amsterdam, and has authored and co-authored articles and reports for various agencies on political, economic, and humanitarian issues, including the Sana’a Center series on humanitarian aid in Yemen, “When Aid Goes Awry.”

Sarah's latest contributions

A Data Case Study: Famine in Yemen

October 27, 2021
Since 2017, the biggest headlines to grip the world about Yemen have been repeated claims that Yemen is “on the brink” or “one step away” from the largest famine in decades or a century.[1] This has been one of the most visible sound bites of the response, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and leading to one of the largest … Read more

The Myth of Data in Yemen

October 27, 2021
In recent years, Yemen has come to the forefront as one of the world’s best-known crises. It is portrayed as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis and the biggest humanitarian response world-wide. It is well known for being on the brink of the biggest famine in years, decades or perhaps a century,[1] and for having the largest cholera outbreak … Read more

When Aid Goes Awry: How the International Humanitarian Response is Failing Yemen

October 27, 2021
Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. The world’s biggest response. On the brink of famine for the past four years. It is neglected, grossly underfunded, and exceedingly dangerous. This is the narrative that is spun and reinforced by those who lead the international response in Yemen, both on the humanitarian and political levels, from … Read more