Yemen: No. 1 on the 2019 Fragile State Index

In what may come as little surprise to many, Yemen ranks No. 1 on the 2019 Fragile State Index (FSI) published on 10 April 2019. The FSI scores are based on key political, social and economic indicators and the main reasons for Yemen becoming No. 1 for the first time are the continuing civil war and resulting humanitarian catastrophe. According to the FSI publisher, Fund for Peace (FFP), "most attention should be given to [Yemen"s] rapid worsening over the past decade, and the regional instability and power plays for which its population are unspeakably suffering." (p.12) Henriette Kats, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The long-term rise in instability observed by FFP corresponds to the steady increase in Yemen"s score on the Open Doors World Watch List for several years in a row. Amid the civil war and humanitarian crisis Yemen is going through, Christians are additionally vulnerable, especially since the majority of the Yemeni church is composed of converts from Islam. Emergency relief is mostly distributed through Muslim employees of secular organizations and local mosques, who are reported to be discriminating against all who are not considered to be pious Muslims. This is a serious threat to the survival of Christians and other non-Muslims in the country."