Key messages
The agreement of the Yemeni parties to the conflict to cease hostilities from 15 December 2015 has presented a long awaited opportunity for humanitarian actors to reach areas of the country that have been inaccessible for the past months, while continuing on-going assistance and essential services.
Despite reports of intermittent hostilities in parts of the country, humanitarian actors have succeeded in reaching hard-to-access areas with much-needed assistance. However, in other areas deliveries have been impacted by continued fighting.
Situation Overview
More than eight months of conflict have severely exacerbated Yemen’s prior large-scale humanitarian emergency, intensifying the severity of needs among vulnerable people across sectors. Over 14.4 million people are suffering from food insecurity – of whom 2.1 million are malnourished, 14.1 million require support to access adequate healthcare and 19.3 million lack access to water and sanitation services. The conflict has further displaced 2.5 million civilians and left 14.1 million people in need of protection.
The situation on the ground has been fluid over the last 24 hours with reports of alleged breaches of the cessation of hostilities in a number of governorates. This uncertainty has impacted on the ability of agencies to proceed with their planned distributions, assessments and monitoring.
In spite of these constraints, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been able to proceed with some of their intended activities as set out in the Supplementary Operational Plan that was developed for the period of the cessation of hostilities.