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The ongoing conflict in Yemen has resulted in over one million internally displaced and more than 21 million people or 80 percent of the population in need of assistance due to shortages of food and fuel, medical supplies, damaged access routes, and commercial import restrictions. With new Danida funding of 1 million DKK, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is able to deliver lifesaving assistance to those most in need.
This new project will meet the short term food needs of 3,000 internally displaced persons in Yemen. It will also seek to provide immediate protection to 80 extremely vulnerable families – about 480 individuals – in Yemen through intensified monitoring and immediate social assistance. DRC seeks to initially implement this project in seven governorates: Sana’a, Aden, Abyan, Sa’ada, Hajja, Amran and Hodeida.
“The funds from Danida will enable DRC to expand its current emergency response to an extra 3,000 persons in Yemen. It is our hope that this can be a catalyst for further funding to meet the extensive needs throughout Yemen,” says Lisa Piper, DRC’s Yemen Country Director, who just has returned from an assessment mission to Sana’a. Due to security, DRC has evacuated its international staff, but are expecting to reenter soon despite the difficult conditions.
Many Yemenis and other nationalities caught up in the conflict are struggling to survive as numerous parts of the country are faced with a chronic shortage of fuel. In most governorates, where fuel is available, the prices have sky rocketed – leading to a serious constraint to meeting humanitarian needs and many people are not able to access food and medical supplies. The majority of the population is without access to healthcare as hospitals are forced to shut down from a lack of medical supplies and frequent power cuts.
“Many of the affected civilian populations in Yemen need acute emergency assistance to alleviate their immediate suffering. The ongoing conflict has resulted in a situation where vulnerability levels and needs among the majority of the Yemen population have quadrupled. In many of the governorates, food insecurity has greatly increased with some areas sliding to alarming levels of food shortage,” says Lisa Piper.
DRC as one of the humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen is working hard to alleviate the human suffering of those affected by ongoing violence – especially the displaced, vulnerable migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who were already in Yemen. However, current funding levels for the crisis are critically low considering the immense needs in the country. According to OCHA, aid agencies on June 19 called for USD 1.6 billion to help the most vulnerable 11.7 million people affected. Of this total, a funding shortfall of more than USD 1.4 billion remains up till the end of the year.
“Although the humanitarian needs remain critical in Yemen, DRC is very appreciative of the additional funds from Danida as they provide a welcome relief in a crisis that remains bleak,” notes Lisa Piper.
The project interventions are a response to a series of assessments recently conducted during the last humanitarian pause in May. The assessments revealed the critical humanitarian needs that DRC seeks to address in collaboration with other humanitarian actors.
DRC is also responding to the new arrivals from Yemen that are being received in Djibouti, Puntland and Somaliland. In both Puntland and Somaliland, DRC leads the response for the new arrivals at the respective ports and reception centres by providing food, water, and sanitary kits, as well assisting UNHCR Somalia to conduct pre-registration in Berbera, Somaliland.
DRC has been operational in Yemen since 2008 supporting children, families, and communities affected by conflict with shelter, protection, food and livelihood initiatives.
