Light at the End of the Tunnel for Yemen? A Conversation with Aisha Jumaan

As of Tuesday, December 11th, the Senate is poised to vote on ending US support of the war on Yemen. According to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders:

"Tomorrow, I will move to proceed to S.J. Res. 54, the resolution I have offered with Senators Lee and Murphy to end U.S. involvement in the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen. I am optimistic that a bipartisan coalition of senators will vote to make clear that the United States will no longer support Saudi Arabia in its incredibly destructive war. The Saudi intervention in Yemen has created the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, with millions of people facing imminent starvation. The time is long overdue for the United States to stop following the lead of Saudi Arabia, a brutal regime that recently murdered a dissident journalist and has no respect for human rights. Further, and importantly, the Senate must reassert its constitutional authority and end our support of this unauthorized and unconstitutional war."

Dr. Aisha Jumaan returns to the Beloved Community to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the latest political developments. 

Dr. Jumaan is the founder and president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation.  (http://www.yemenfoundation.com) , a nonprofit charity organization that aims to provide relief to the people of Yemen and support peace building efforts.

Professionally, Aisha has been working as an independent consultant in health related projects since April 2013.  She manages and coordinates Health funded projects in Yemen, including the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). Prior to this Aisha was a consultant for CDC FETP program supporting FETP programs in the Middle East. In 2011 she helped establish the Yemen program (amid social and political unrest) in collaboration with CDC, WHO and the Ministry of Public Health and Population.

Between 2008 and 2010, Aisha was the Director of the HPV vaccine project at PATH working in India, Peru, Vietnam and Uganda.  She has served as a Senior Epidemiologist for over 10 years in several divisions at CDC, including Cancer, Immunizations, Nutrition and Environmental Health.  She has been the primary investigator on several research projects and provided epidemiological and statistical technical expertise. As an Assistant Professor at both Emory University School of Public Health in the Epidemiology Department and at Sana’s University in Yemen under the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Aisha developed and taught intermediate epidemiology to graduate students as well as epidemiology and biostatistics to medical students.

While in Yemen, Aisha served as a National Program Officer for the United Nations Population Fund and as a Health Program Officer for the United Nations Development Fund, supervising several major programs in collaboration with local government institutions. She developed and implemented training programs for US Peace Corps Primary Health Care Volunteers in Yemen, and has evaluated training programs for Primary Healthcare Workers for the Dutch Volunteer Organization SNV. Aisha holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina, an MPH in Epidemiology from Emory University, and a BA in Biology from Mills College.