According to IOM's Bill Lorenz, who recently returned from a joint IOM/UNHCR/OCHA assessment mission to the state of Puntland, in northeast Somalia, thousands of Ethiopians from poor rural areas and Somalis fleeing insecurity in South and Central Somalia have

Displaced families remain unable to return to their homes despite signing of the peace agreement.

SA'ADA, August 26 - An official source from the presidential committee supervising implementation of the Sa'ada ceasefire agreement denied media reports of resumed confrontations between army forces and Houthis. According to the source, Al-Motamar.net reported, "There are not any confrontations. Dialogue is still going on between the committee and Houthi loyalists."

However, local sources revealed that

Officials at the Yemeni Presidential Committee - formed to supervise the ceasefire agreement on behalf of the Yemeni government - accused al-Houthi of not abiding by the peace agreement, and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has threatened to resort to military

In a world of global challenges, continued poverty, inequity, and increasing vulnerability to disasters and disease, the International Federation with its global network, works to accomplish its Global Agenda, partnering with local community and civil society to prevent and alleviate human suffering from disasters, diseases and public health emergencies.

In brief

Programme Summary: Building on the momentum generated by the launch of its five-year strategy (2007-2011)

The three-month operation, worth US$ 1.3 million, is to continue WFP efforts which started two month ago. Some 20,000 displaced people received assistance during June and July.

The number of persons to receive food assistance during the new operation has increased by 16,000 due to the improvement of the security conditions, hence better access to the needy