Attachments
Situation in Numbers
(OCHA, 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview)
12.9 million children in need of humanitarian assistance
23.4 million people in need
2.2 million children internally displaced (IDPs) (UNICEF, 2022 Yemen Humanitarian Action for Children)
Highlights
UNICEF continued to provide essential lifesaving interventions to 82,878 people in flood-affected regions and communities, including IDPs, through water trucking, provision of hygiene kits, cholera tables, and desludging latrines.
In August, UNICEF provided psychosocial support to 55,176 individuals, including 48,539 children to children, to help address the immediate and long-term consequences of their exposure to violence.
By the end of August, UNICEF had trained 3,500 community health care workers to provide primary health care services. An estimated 1.5 million people, including 360,000 children under five and 350,000 women of reproductive age, accessed essential primary health care services.
Funding Overview and Partnerships
The Yemen Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC), which is aligned to the 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP), appeals for $484.4 million in 2022. UNICEF’s humanitarian programmes have nationwide reach, targeting populations in areas with the most acute needs. All COVID-19 related activities are integrated into programmes planned within the HAC. As of 31 August 2022, UNICEF received a total of $77 million in new funding against the 2022 HAC appeal and a total of $63.8 million was carried forward from 20211. This leaves a funding gap of $343.6 million or 71 per cent of the total amount required to continue UNICEF’s life-saving work in Yemen. Critical gaps are seen across all sectors with the exception of Education and Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) funding targets. During the reporting period, generous contributions were received from the French Committee for UNICEF, the Yemen Global Thematic Humanitarian Response Fund and the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND). Despite these contributions, new humanitarian resources mobilized in 2022 are much lower when compared to the situation one year ago (over $273.7 million in August 2021).
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The UN-brokered truce that came into effect in April was extended for a second time until 2 October. In addition to the truce, an expanded proposal was shared by UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg. This proposal includes a mechanism for both parties to begin regular payments to civil servant salaries and pensions, opening roads in Taiz, resumption of flights between Sanaa airport and select destinations, as well as increasing the number of fuel ships entering the Hudaydah ports.
Since the beginning of 2022, Yemen has faced two extreme weather conditions: extreme drought in the first half of the year and torrential rains and flooding from July 2022. Weather reports indicate that the drought ranged from moderate to severe between January to June, with the third driest period on record in the last forty years further exacerbating the food and malnutrition crises in Yemen. In August, challenges to UNICEF’s lifesaving interventions included heavy rains destroying IDP shelters and threatening critical infrastructure, and an increase in severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
During August, 556 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD)/Cholera were reported, although the Ministry of Health reported no confirmed cholera cases during the month. UNICEF is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with WHO, Health and WASH clusters, and prepositioning supplies to ensure a quick response to possible outbreaks.
In August, 308 COVID-19 cases were officially confirmed (with 166 recovered cases in the south). No associated deaths were reported. There are no COVID-19 vaccinations reported in the northern part of the country.
The United Nations Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (UN CTFMR) documented 18 incidents of grave violations against children, of which 83.3 per were verified. This includes 20 confirmed child casualties, including five children killed (four boys, one girl) and 15 children maimed (12 boys, three girls) mainly due to explosive devices (72.7 per cent), mortar (nine per cent), gunshot (nine per cent), artillery (nine per cent) while (9 per cent) due to mortar by various parties to the conflict. There was also military use of a hospital by a party to the conflict and two incidents of humanitarian access denial were reported. Most of the incidents documented and verified were in the following governorates: Hodeida (4); Shabwah (3); Taiz (3); Sa’ada (2); Marib (2); and Aden (1).