We remember Hamid Al-Qadami
Hamid Al-Qadami was born on 1 September 1981 in Bani Qadam, Sharis district, Hajjah governorate. He attended Al-Shaheed Hussein School in Hajjah city (1987–1995) and then completed a nursing diploma at Hajjah’s High Institute of Health Sciences (1996–1998). After that, he headed a health unit in Sharis from 1999 to 2003 before working at Amran General Hospital (2003–2009) and Al-Makhthi Hospital in Amran (2005–2007). During this time he continued his studies, gaining a diploma in pharmacy from the High Institute of Health Sciences in Sana'a (2008) as well as a bachelor’s degree in English language from Amran University (2009).
In 2010 Hamid joined Hajjah’s Al-Jumhuri Hospital where he would spend the next eight years. He was head of ward statistics (2009–2011), while also taking charge of epidemiological surveillance and malaria eradication. From 2012 to 2013, he was manager of planning and projects; he then spent a couple of years as the hospital’s medical supply manager. In 2018 he became general supervisor and training qualification manager. While at Al-Jumhuri Hospital, Hamid completed a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from the Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences in Sana'a (2014).
Hamid was an avid learner, always looking to improve his knowledge and skills. Throughout his career, he attended courses on subjects ranging from the latest medical advances to computer, communications and management training. In January 2016 he started a PhD in management sciences (knowledge management and innovation) at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, in Aurangabad, India. As part of his research studies, Hamid travelled to India on several occasions to attend conferences and workshops.
In July 2019 Hamid successfully applied to the ICRC, starting in August as a health field officer based in the Sa’ada subdelegation. His work would later include supporting COVID-19 quarantine centres. He brought a wealth of experience to the position, along with a big heart, a wide smile and bags of motivation. He became known to many in the delegation as “the professor”, because of the many, many hours he spent researching his PhD in his spare time.
Achieving his PhD was something Hamid was deeply passionate about. He would speak fondly of his times in India, regaling colleagues with stories of the country’s rich cuisine and natural beauty. It wasn’t all smooth-sailing, though. At times it had been a struggle to find the money to continue his studies. But, as Hamid would tell friends and colleagues, anyone who has a dream can achieve it.
Precious as his humanitarian work and PhD were to him, there was something he cherished even more: his family. Hamid was a loving father to six boys. On weekend breaks, he would drive three hours from Sa’ada to return home to visit his wife and sons.
On 30 December 2020, Hamid was waiting to board a flight at Aden airport along with around a dozen ICRC colleagues. He was on his way to India, where he was due to defend his PhD thesis – the culmination of years of study. As he waited with colleagues in the transit area, the airport was struck by a series of large explosions. Hamid, who was 39, and two other ICRC colleagues – Ahmed Wazir and Saidi Kayiranga – were killed. Three other ICRC colleagues were injured in the attack. In all, around 30 civilians died and more than 100 were wounded.
Hamid was someone who approached life on the front foot, always looking for improvement whether for himself, his young family or his country and people. He was about to take another significant step on that journey and receive his PhD, a degree he hoped would help him further his work assisting others in Yemen.
The ICRC in
Yemen, 2020
In 2020 Yemen continued to be caught in a spiral of armed conflicts and other violence. The Ansarullah movement and the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched frequent attacks against each other, as did government forces and the separatist Southern Transitional Council. Violence intensified in Abyan, Hodeida, Marib and Taiz. The UN called for a ceasefire to allow the parties to focus on containing the spread of COVID-19, but the violence was unabated. Fighting between government forces and armed groups – such as Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula and the Islamic State group – and among the armed groups persisted in some parts of the country. The humanitarian consequences of this protracted violence were calamitous. Health care, water and other basic services were virtually non-existent; supply shortages, already a critical problem, were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, national capacities in tackling public-health emergencies like cholera and COVID-19 were extremely limited. The inaccessibility of essential goods and services, and the loss of livelihoods, pushed millions of people closer to destitution. Much of the population was dependent on some form of aid; but organizations providing it had to contend not only with the immensity of needs but also with challenges such as attacks against their personnel and facilities.
The ICRC strove to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs in Yemen, despite the extremely volatile and increasingly restrictive working environment. Because of the prevailing insecurity and the pandemic, some of our activities were cancelled, postponed or only partially implemented. Our logistics base in Oman and our office in Djibouti continued to support operations in Yemen. We worked closely with the Yemen Red Crescent Society and other Movement partners to cover gaps and coordinate activities. We continued to call on all parties to the conflicts to respect IHL, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure access to essential services and humanitarian aid. Whenever possible, we brought documented allegations of IHL violations and protection-related concerns to their attention.
We supported 35 primary-health-care centres that served some 685,500 people, work to which Hamid was actively contributing. This assistance consisted of monitoring visits, community outreach activities, donations of medicine and medical equipment, and training and health staff. We also delivered ad hoc support to five of these facilities – including two COVID-19 quarantine sites and two cholera-treatment centres – which helped boost their capacity to respond to public-health emergencies. The ICRC provided 47 hospitals near front lines with medicines, equipment and other supplies; 14 of these hospitals were given daily support by our staff, who supervised hospital personnel or directly treated patients.
Roughly five million people had better access to essential services and a more reliable supply of clean water and electricity – and were less at risk of disease – owing to ICRC initiatives, both planned and ad hoc. Local water and sanitation corporations, water committees and other service providers were given material support and technical guidance. This helped them maintain and operate water and sewage systems, ultimately benefiting everyone in their communities. Emergency repairs and donations helped to prevent service disruption and bolster local capacities in preventing and controlling infections: for example, quarantine sites were provided with water tanks and filters, solar panels and tents.
Because of the pandemic, we suspended our detention visits for much of the year as a precautionary measure, but we continued supporting penitentiary authorities’ efforts to improve detention conditions and respond to COVID-19. This enabled us to meet detention authorities with whom we had no contact previously and to access more places of detention than before: 43 in total, and ten for the first time. These facilities collectively held over 20,000 people.