High-level UN humanitarian official arrives in Yemen

(Sana'a/New York, 12 September, 2009): The Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Rashid Khalikov, yesterday arrived on a four day fact-finding mission to Yemen. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from Sa'ada and Amran Governorates as a result of the conflict, bringing the total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) to around 150,000 so far.

"The displaced people, and the communities hosting them, are deeply vulnerable," Mr. Khalikov said. "For some of the IDPs, this is the second or third time that they have been forced to flee; they have little or no means of supporting themselves, and many of them have moved to areas where there is little basic infrastructure such as clean water sources," he added.

During his mission, Mr. Khalikov will visit areas where IDPs have settled, and meet with government officials and humanitarian actors in order to gain a better understanding of the crisis and challenges to providing assistance.

"In my meetings, I hope to discuss how we can better assist the tens of thousands of people who are affected by the ongoing conflict," Mr. Khalikov said. "At the moment it is hard for us to have a comprehensive picture because of the continued insecurity, and we have very little concrete information about the conditions that the affected population is living in."

Where access is possible, assessments show that the most urgent needs are food, water and sanitation, essential domestic items and health care. Aid agencies are working hard to provide the affected populations with these essentials, and the distribution of food and non-food items in- and outside camps is ongoing.

On 2 September, the humanitarian community launched a Flash Appeal for $23.7 million for these lifesaving activities. The Appeal, which contains 25 UN and 12 NGO projects for a period of four months, has not received any funding to date.

"We are deeply concerned that the current lack of funding for the Flash Appeal," Mr. Khalikov said. "At the moment, agencies are using their reserve funds to finance their activities. The Central Emergency Resopnse Fund (CERF) has allocated over seven million dollars this year to Yemen, but we urgently need the international community's support to prevent this situation from deteriorating even further".

The Yemen Flash Appeal covers the identified and estimated needs of a projected caseload of 150,000 IDPs as well as tens of thousands of people indirectly affected by the conflict, such as communities hosting IDPs and residents who have lost access to basic services such as water, food, and health care. The full Appeal can be found at www.humanitarianappeal.net

For further information, please call:

OCHA Dubai: Nadia Evans, +967712087883, +971502279808, evans2@un.org; OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org, John Nyaga +1 917 367 9262, +1 917 318 8917, nyagaj@un.org
OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org
OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int