Key messages
- Despite reports of intermittent hostilities in parts of the country, the humanitarian community has seized the opportunity offered by the cessation of hostilities declared on 15 December 2015 to step up efforts to assist the most vulnerable.
- A large number of trucks from the World Food Programme carrying essential food supplies have reached warehouses in Al Mudhaffar, Al Qahirah, and Salh, the most affected districts of Taizz city.
- The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen announced on 17 December that agreement had been reached to allow for a full and immediate resumption of humanitarian assistance to the city of Taizz.
Humanitarian Response
On 15 December, the International Medical Corps (IMC) deployed six mobile clinics in Salh district in Taizz city. This district had been largely inaccessible for the last three months due to heavy fighting. The mobile teams provided health services to 545 people, 366 of them female and 181 children were treated for common illnesses such as acute respiratory tract infections (ARI), urinary tract infection (URI), diarrhoea, intestinal parasites, infected wounds, skin infections and fever. Another 111 children were screened for malnutrition, with 15 per cent presenting signs of acute malnutrition. Prenatal and antenatal care was also provided to pregnant and lactating women.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has dispatched 155 trucks to Taizz city carrying some 3,900 metric tons (MT) of food. As of 17 December, 102 trucks (2,600 MT) have arrived and off loaded in warehouses of the Ministry of Education in the four districts of Al Mudhaffar, Al Qahirah, Salh, and Al Taiziah. Another 53 trucks are expected to arrive 18 December. These supplies will be distributed through schools and provide food for 350,000 people in the coming days. The food basket includes wheat, pulses, oil and sugar.
The World Health Organization (WHO) distributed medicines and medical supplies in Taizz governorate, including in the districts of Al Mokha, and Mawiyah. A truck carrying diarrheal kits for 400 people reached Taizz city and will be provided to the paediatric wards of the main hospitals in Al Mudhaffar and Al Qahirah districts. In Aden, WHO provided assistance to 1,500 people suffering from malnutrition as well as consultations for various childhood illnesses through a local partner. Antenatal care for mothers and their children was also offered. In the capital Sana’a, WHO supplied hospitals with 5,000 vials of insulin and other desperately needed drugs for lifesaving interventions.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisted displaced communities with non-food items necessary for daily survival in Al Turbah in southern Taizz Governorate. IOM also visited the village of Al Qaeda, near Ibb, to determine how to best assist 160 displaced families being hosted there.
WHO dispatched mobile teams to provide health services in the districts of Alluheyah, Al Monirah, Al Zuhrah and Hais – all districts in Hudaydah governorate that were affected by severe floods in December. On 15 and 16 December drugs provided by WHO reached the affected areas and were distributed to hospitals.
In Amran, Hajjah, Hudaydah, and Ibb governorates, UNICEF monitored programmes in education, health, nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene. In Amran, UNICEF completed a delivery of 30,000 litres of diesel to the local water corporation that provides water to 50,000 people in the area. In Taizz city, 60,000 litres of diesel were delivered to Taizz Water Sanitation Local Company (TWSLC). UNICEF also installed seven water tanks in Al Qahirah district in partnership with a local organization.
For further information, please contact:
Trond Jensen, Head of Office, jensen8@un.org
Paul Thomas, Deputy Head of Office, Amman Hub, thomasp@un.org
James Weatherill, OCHA New York, Coordination and Response Division, weatherill@un.org, Tel: +1 917 367 6288
OCHA humanitarian products are available at www.unocha.org/yemen | www.unocha.org | www.reliefweb.int