May 16, 2013 - 02:09 -

WAM SANA'A, May 16th, 2013 (WAM) -- The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation (KF) in Yemen has distributed 17,000 food parcels to poor Yemeni families in Sana'a.

The move is within the sixth stage of the Foundation's distribution of food assistance among the needy in implementation of the AED 500 million aid announced by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for Yemen.

10 million people in Yemen need food aid, of whom about 5 million face acute food shortages; 6 million people do not have access to health care; and 1 million children are facing malnutrition, with some 150,000 of them facing the risk of death due to acute malnutrition.

SANA’A [ACTED News] – A poor harvest in 2012 combined with fragile livelihood systems and food price volatility has contributed to increasing food insecurity in Yemen, affecting a staggering 46% of the population. In response to the crisis, ACTED has provided agricultural kits to 6,000 vulnerable households in Ibb, Raymah, and Ad Dhalee Governorates. This project is supported by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).

Today, the Al Amal Training Center opened in Sana’a. This workforce training center will work with young men and women aged 18-30, offering lessons in how to establish a small business and how to manage financial and marketing to strengthen that business. Youth will also learn English and computer skills, making them more marketable in the job market and more attractive to potential investors. Finally, as entrepreneurial skills must be complemented by access to capital, Al Amal Microfinance Bank (AMB) will provide graduates of the training center no-collateral, low- and no-interest loans.

Over 182,000 IDPs have returned so far, of which about 146,000 are in 11 districts of Abyan Governorate. About 322,444 IDPs continue to be displaced in the north (Sana’a included) and only 36,845 returnees to Sa’ada Governorate. Ethiopian migrants with the hope of crossing over to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continue to migrate into Yemen.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• More than 87 percent of IDPs in southern Yemen have returned to areas of origin since July 2012 as a result of improved security conditions, according to the U.N. However, less than 11 percent of IDPs in northern Yemen have returned home due to protracted insecurity. A lack of basic services is an issue in both northern and southern areas.

WAM San'aa, May 8th, 2013 (WAM) -- The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has continued the sixth phase of distribution of food assistance to poor and needy people as part of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's AED 500 million food aid programme for Yemeni people.

The assistance comes in the light of Sheikh Khalifa's keenness to alleviate the daily suffering of the Yemeni people, and embodies the strong relations between the two peoples.

Recent changes in Saudi foreign workers legislation and their resumption of fencing the 1,800 km border with Yemen have exacerbated the situation of an already overflowing population of destitute migrants stranded in Haradh, at the border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Concurrently, the Yemeni military authorities have resumed raids on smugglers’ camps in Haradh and elsewhere; as of 8 April, hundreds of abused and hungry migrants have been released from the hands of smugglers and are now in urgent need of shelter, food, water and health care.