Shamha, a displaced Yemeni child, is recovering from malnutrition with the help of UNHCR
Food
Food
Shelter
Food
Education
Protection
Cash Assistance
Supplies
Three years of war have devastated Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East. An estimated 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Millions more have fled their homes to escape conflict and now face disease and looming famine. The worsening violence is resulting in widespread casualties and massive displacement, further compounded by cholera outbreaks and food shortages.
Over 2 million people are now displaced, stranded in their own country with nowhere to run. Many face desperate conditions as they struggle to survive and search for safety, shelter and emergency aid. Close to 80 per cent of Yemenis live in extreme poverty. Yemen is also sheltering over 280,000 refugees and asylum seekers who have fled violence in the neighbouring Horn of Africa region.
UNHCR is one of the few humanitarian aid organisations on the ground in Yemen. We provide life-saving assistance to displaced Yemenis, as well as to refugees and asylum-seekers across the country.
Without your help, many more lives will be lost to violence, treatable illnesses or lack of food, clean water and shelter. Yemeni people urgently need your support.
Three years of conflict have devastated Yemen, creating the world’s largest food security emergency.
“The world cannot afford to let Yemen slip into the abyss.”
Ayman Gharaibeh, UNHCR Representative to Yemen
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Shamha, a displaced Yemeni child, is recovering from malnutrition with the help of UNHCR
Food
Five-year-old Shamha and her family are internally displaced and living in Mazrak camp in Yemen.
She wears a pink wristband to let UNHCR staff know to provide her with Plumpy Nut, a high-calorie therapeutic food. Shamha’s father says that she has been improving quickly with access to this emergency supplement, an enormous relief for the family.
More than two-thirds of Yemen’s population is currently food insecure, and 2 million children are malnourished.
© UNHCR/ Hugh Macleod
Mariam and Sukaina want nothing more than an education
Education
Sisters Mariam, eight, and Sukaina, seven, miss the normal lives they once led, before civil war devastated their country.
As a result of the conflict, thousands of schools have been destroyed and two million children are missing out on an education – compromising the future of a generation.
UNHCR provides textbooks and other supplies to Yemen’s remaining schools, and runs literacy and numeracy classes for children without access to formal education.
© UNHCR/ Mohammed Hamoud
Source: Australia for UNHCR's Statement of Comprehensive income 2016
UNHCR has managed to secure access to Mokha.
Supplies
In Mokha, one of the worst affected areas in the Taizz district, UNHCR teams observed worsening conditions for both those displaced by conflict and the local communities hosting them. Many people are living out in the open in harsh conditions and without adequate shelter, protection and material assistance.
UNHCR has managed to secure access to Mokha for the third time this year. The latest UNHCR aid distribution in Mokha will cover more than 6,200 people with emergency assistance, adding to the 69,857 already reached since the start of this year. © UNHCR/Adem Shaqiri
Supplies
Ahmed helps his family collect UNHCR aid items in Taiz, Yemen.
Supplies
Many Yemeni people have lost their livelihoods as a result of the conflict and now struggle to support their families.
UNHCR provides displaced people with life-saving relief items like blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, jerry cans, mosquito nets and stoves.
UNHCR also provides shelter kits to help families repair homes damaged in the conflict, and refurbishes public buildings that host displaced families.
© UNHCR/ M. Al Hasani
Shelter
Food
Education
Protection
Cash Assistance
Supplies
UNHCR provides refugees with emergency shelter — tents, tarpaulins and demountable housing — in the immediate aftermath of displacement. More broadly, we are responsible for site planning and camp management to ensure refugee settlements are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. For those living outside camps, UNHCR funds the rehabilitation of communal shelters, the construction of new homes and rental assistance for those in urban situations. UNHCR also provides materials that displaced people need to build a home themselves under self-help schemes.
Malnutrition is a common consequence of conflict and displacement. UNHCR works with the World Food Programme (WFP) to ensure that all refugees have access to adequate nutrient-rich food. UNHCR assists with the distribution of food rations in camps and provide urban refugees with vouchers and cash assistance for the purchase of food and groceries. In acute situations, UNHCR supports emergency nutrition and therapeutic feeding programs, supplying fortified milks and ready-to-use therapeutic foods.
Education is a crucial part of refugee relief, even in emergencies. School provides a safe and stable environment for children, restoring their sense of normality and routine, and allowing them to receive important health and safety messages. Education also helps people rebuild their communities and pursue productive, meaningful lives. Where refugees live in the community, UNHCR negotiates with governments to allow them access to local schools. In refugee camps, UNHCR promotes education for children and adults, operating schools and vocational training programs.
Children and families fleeing violence, war, disaster or persecution can be very vulnerable. UNHCR supplies displaced people with essential items, food and shelter to protect them from having to make dangerous decisions to survive. On a larger scale, UNHCR negotiates safe passage, asylum spaces and humanitarian access, upholding the rights of refugees and minimising the threat of violence, including sexual assault.
During the registration process, UNHCR workers identify displaced Yemenis who may be in need of additional protection. These include unaccompanied children, children at risk of being subjected to child labour, and survivors of gender-based violence. Protection outreach teams also visit hospitals in search of injured refugees and displaced people, and monitor houses accommodating the war-wounded. This allows them to identify people in need of specific support or legal assistance.
Most refugees live in places where they have access to markets and services in the same way that local communities do. Providing refugees with cash, by way of a secure biometric system, enables them to make decisions about their personal needs. This also helps prevent refugees being forced into desperate measures such as undertaking dangerous journeys, taking children out of school or survival sex. Cash assistance also helps refugees to support the local economy, aiding social integration.
Humanitarian access is a major concern in Yemen. UNHCR has established new partnerships with local organisations in order to reach more people affected by the crisis. UNHCR uses cash-based interventions to provide protection, assistance and services to the most vulnerable. Cash and vouchers help the displaced meet their specific needs for food, water, healthcare and shelter and allow them to establish and support their livelihoods.
UNHCR distributes life-sustaining items such as mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans, stoves and fuel, soap and other sanitary items to refugees under its care. These supplies are tailored to the specific needs of the refugee population: for example, winterisation kits are distributed in camps and communities where sub-zero temperatures occur. UNHCR maintains global stockpiles of core relief items for immediate delivery in emergency situations.
UNHCR has distributed relief items including blankets, sleeping mats, buckets, plastic sheeting, kitchen sets, tents and emergency shelter kits to hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside Yemen. As part of its winterisation program, UNHCR sends protection outreach teams to conduct home visits and assess living conditions. The most vulnerable families receive thermal blankets and advice on how to prepare for winter storms.
Get the latest statistics on the emergency in Yemen.
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