Escalating violence in the city of Al Mokha continues to cause mass displacement. Al Mokha is a strategic port city in Taiz Governorate, which is one of Yemen’s most brutal conflict zones and currently hosts approximately 273,780 displaced people.
Last month, displacement from Al Mokha spiked as fighting intensified. IOM activated the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) in Al Mokha immediately after the clashes erupted. So far, IOM has tracked a total of 34,920 displaced individuals from Al Mokha into neighboring areas.
To support those that have been displaced, IOM distributed a total of 1,200 core relief items including mattresses, blankets, sleeping matts, kitchen sets and water buckets, and 900 hygiene kits containing hand soap, washing powder, jerry cans, sanitary pads, water jugs, toothpaste and tooth brush. 8,400 displaced people in Al Ma’afir, Dhubab, Jabal Habashi, and AL Mudhaffar were reached with this distribution.
“IOM is looking at faster interventions in order to guarantee better humanitarian response to populations affected by the ongoing conflict; this is critical for hundreds of thousands of Yemenis today,” emphasized Laurent De Boeck, IOM Yemen Chief of Mission.
“We are expanding our operations through strategic partnerships with international and local organizations, and have moved towards more decentralized hubs within the country, enabling quicker decision-making and closer coordination with beneficiaries,” added de Boeck.
Through 2016, and despite restricted access to Taiz, IOM successfully reached 23,376 individuals, providing them with shelter and core relief support. In addition, IOM implemented a series of lifesaving water and sanitation activities, which included trucking water to vital health facilities and internally displaced persons sites, rehabilitation of water networks, and the provision of new water pumps to support more than 56,000 displaced people and individuals affected by the conflict in the governorate. IOM Yemen is seeking additional financial support to expand its operations and to respond to the needs of the most affected vulnerable populations throughout the country. Please see IOM’s Yemen Appeal here.
For further information please contact, Saba Malme at IOM Yemen, Tel: + 967 736 800 329, Email: smalme@iom.int.