Highlights:
On 21 January, UNICEF’s Representative participated in an inter-agency UN mission led by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. The mission visited the Taiz enclave and witnessed the extreme difficulties faced by people living in the three districts, due to limited access to basic services, goods and supplies.
Through local partners, UNICEF has been able to reach some of the most affected communities in Taiz city, however access continues to be challenging for humanitarian actors.
Since 9 January, UNICEF is supporting operations and communication activities for the polio and Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign across the country, over 3.9 million children have been vaccinated against polio and about 2.3 million against MR.
During the reporting period, UNICEF has provided Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) for over 5,100 students in Ibb, Hodeida, Hajjah and Sana’a.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The humanitarian situation in Yemen remains critical. The conflict that escalated in late March 2015 has left an estimated 21.2 million people (82 per cent of the population), including more than 9.9 million children, in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance. The conflict continues to force families to flee their homes, with 2.5 million Yemenis now internally displaced, 31 per cent of whom are children.
It is estimated that the current crisis, has left 19.3 million people requiring assistance to meet their needs of water and sanitation, 14.1 million people in need of access to healthcare, 1.3 million children at risk of acute malnutrition, 7.4 million children in need of protection services, and about 2.9 million children with education-related needs.
Given the continuity of hostilities, ground fighting and violations of international humanitarian law, an improvement of the situation is not expected in the near future.
Despite slight improvements observed in November 2015 with regard to imports trends, during December the number of ships berthing, as well as the volume of food and fuel imports into Yemen decreased. Commercial food imports decreased by 19 per cent compared to November, and fuel imports dropped by 83 per cent over the previous month. Regular incomes and livelihoods of the most vulnerable families are drying up, increasing poverty, food insecurity and risk of malnutrition.
To mitigate against increasing humanitarian needs, UNICEF continues to provide support across different sectors, including, but not limited to, health and nutrition, WASH, education, child protection and social protection, working closely with Governments and local partners.
On 21 January, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, UNICEF’s Representative and other UN senior officials travelled to the cities of Taiz and Ibb. The mission was aimed at assessing the humanitarian situation and discussing humanitarian access, with local authorities in critical areas, particularly to the three districts of Taiz city which have been cut off for months. After the visit, the Humanitarian Coordinator advocated for the establishment of a mechanism that will allow regular and sustained access of goods into the city and called on all parties to the conflict to observe international humanitarian law and provide humanitarian access as well as refrain from targeting civilian infrastructure.