Since the peak of 63,000 in July, 2011 and further steady decline in the displacement trends in August and September, the month of October recorded an increase in the displacements. Forty one thousand (41,000) displacements were recorded in October, mainly due to insecurity as opposed to 35,000displacements in September. Insecurity due to ongoing fighting between various warring parties, accounted for 74% of the total displacements reported, mainly in Mogadishu,Afgooye district and border region of Juba Hoose.

Key Messages

The prices of basic commodities remained high, which together with fuel shortage, are limiting households' food access and resulting in deteriorating food security conditions.

International agencies report a situation of food and humanitarian crisis with an estimated 1.8 million people in need of food and emergency assistance.

Continuing conflicts and insecurity particularly in governorates of Arhab, Sana'a and Abyan, together with limited humanitarian access are major drivers of food insecurity among IDPs populations.

Deadly clashes between government forces and the insurgent Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke out in the troubled southern Philippines in October. On 24-25 October the army bombed a MILF area for the first time since peace talks broke down in 2008, causing over 10,000 inhabitants to flee. Earlier in the month, nineteen soldiers were killed in a botched operation to arrest a MILF fighter.

Shatha Al-Harazi

Published:31-10-2011

SANAA, Oct. 30 — Anti-government protesters and activists marched on Sunday safely, demanding the regime release political detainees and kidnapped protesters who were abducted in recent marches.

The march was part of the escalation plan by protesters calling for an end to the current regime. In the past, anti-government marches have faced repression and attack by thugs but the last two have been safe.

Ali Saeed

Published:31-10-2011

SAA’DA, Oct 30 — Signs of a fresh Sunni-Shiite conflict in Sa'ada appeared after the latter blockaded a Sunni school in Damaj, a local told the Yemen Times on Wednesday.

The Sunni school, known as Dar Al-Hadeeth, is at the heart of attacks by Houthi rebels. The school has been under siege for eight days by the rebels, who have been engaged in six separate wars with the central government since 2004.

The aim of this joint statement is to:

• draw attention to the vital role that the community-based health workforce plays in all phases of emergency risk management (prevention, preparedness, response and recovery);

• promote the scale-up of the community-based health workforce by recognizing all those who make up this workforce, training and equipping them for action at the local level, and including them in planning for all types of emergencies;

Nadia Al-Sakkaf & Mohammed bin Sallam

Published:27-10-2011

Despite recent news of a truce between the state security and splinter army, recruitment of new soldiers from both sides has not stopped. Thousands of new recruits, mostly driven by poverty and many of whom are children, are being prepared for a feared civil war.

Armed recruitment on both sides of the conflict has reached an unprecedented level this month with thousands of young men, many under 18, have been joining the ranks of both the official and the splinter army since April.

Partnership is essential in humanitarian action. No single agency is able to tackle the increasing humanitarian needs by itself, certainly in the case of mega disasters such as the floods in Pakistan or more recently the famine in the Horn of Africa. For the last decade, and especially since the Indian Ocean tsunami, traditional humanitarian actors have worked hard to strengthen their cooperation in emergencies.

In Sana'a, essential services such as health care, electricity, water and education have been deeply disrupted if not suspended outright. The priority of the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent is to save lives and bring relief by supporting first-aid efforts and medical facilities.

Population caught up in mounting violence