Highlights of the month:
The situation in Yemen remains catastrophic. A record 22.2 million people need humanitarian assistance or protection – including 8.4 million people who are severely food insecure. People’s lives have continued unraveling.
Conflict has escalated significantly since November 2017, driving an estimated 100,000 people from their homes. More people are going hungry, and famine remains a real threat. Although cholera cases are in decline, the disease is not yet beaten and is likely to rebound in the upcoming rainy season. In addition, a diphtheria outbreak – the first since 1982 – has emerged, killing 73 people to date.
The the generous pledge by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of $930 million announced in January 2018 is to be received by 31 March 2018. The donors have also committed to raise $500 million from other donors in the region. It is expected that even with the support announced to date, the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan would remain only about one-third funded. On 3 April 2018, the Secretary-General will convene a pledging conference in Geneva hosted by Sweden and Switzerland creating an opportunity for donors to work together to provide the resources needed for this response.
Following clashes that erupted in Aden Governorate in late January 2018, UNFPA’s representative visited the city to review UNFPA’s humanitarian response in southern Yemen. Reproductive health needs and protection of women and girls were identified as being urgent issues to be addressed within the current humanitarian crisis in southern Yemen. UNFPA will aim to scale up its operational presence and expand its humanitarian response in the southern part of the country in 2018.
The Reproductive Health Inter-Agency Working Group (RHIAWG) for southern Yemen and Sa'ada Governorate was established in February, with the support of UNFPA. The RHIAWG will bring together all reproductive health partners working in the respective governorates, enabling increased coordination of reproductive health interventions at the sub-national level.
