Yemen PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT January to March 2016

Periodic Monitoring Report
2016 Humanitarian Response Plan - YEMEN
Covering January to March 2016 / Prepared by the Inter-cluster Coordination Group for the Humanitarian Country Team

Changes in Context

Humanitarian context

One year of intensified conflict and the lingering consequences of many months of import restrictions continue to prolong the suffering in Yemen. With all parties to the conflict continuing to kill or maim civilians and damage and destroy civilian infrastructure, much of the suffering results from the way the conflict is being conducted. Since March last year, health facilities across Yemen have recorded 6,400 deaths and 30,000 injuries resulting from the conflict. The monthly 2016 number, while fluctuating remains high. In January the reported numbers were 141 deaths and 991 injuries. In February they were 123 deaths and 584 injuries. For March (until March 20), the numbers were 150 deaths and 400 injuries. In one incident, in Hajja, an airstrike on a marketplace killed over 100 people in mid-March. The overall numbers, however, are believed to be much higher.

Water infrastructure serving at least 900,000 people, across the entire country, has been either damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, artillery or rockets. Due to damage caused by the conflict, shortage of critical supplies, or lack of health workers, over 600 health facilities have closed. Some 220 of these facilities used to provide treatment for acute malnutrition. There are reports of hundreds of private homes, across the entire country, destroyed or damaged by air strikes and ground fighting. In January and February 2016, OHCHR confirmed the use of cluster munitions in several locations across Yemen. The use of cluster munitions was condemned by the UN Secretary-General, stating that their use could amount to war crimes. Children being killed, injured, and recruited to fight UNICEF reports that over 900 children have been killed and over 1,300 injured since hostilities escalated 12 months ago. Despite Yemen being a signatory to the Convention to the Rights of the Child and the 2014 Action Plan to End Recruitment and the Use of Children by Armed Forces in Yemen, more than 800 children have been forcibly recruited as child soldiers. The UN reports that the majority of children recruited were from Amanat Al-Asimah. In particular, members of the Popular Committees have recruited the largest proportion of children compared to other factions- 70 per cent. This includes recruitment of children as young 10 years old to carry arms and man check points. Due to the increased conflict, more than 1.8 million children have been out of school since March 2015 bringing the total to 3.4 million children. International humanitarian law and international human rights law calls on all parties to conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in times of war. In Yemen, all parties to the conflict have shown complete disregard to the laws of war and civilians continue to pay the price with their lives and with their suffering.

After a year of escalated conflict, one in 10 Yemenis has been forced to flee their homes. Analysis by the interagency Task Force on Population Movements (TFPM) shows that a majority of the displaced are concentrated in the governorates of Taizz, Hajjah, Sana’a, Amran and Sa’ada. Most live with relatives or friends, in schools, public or abandoned buildings, in makeshift shelters or in the open. Shelter, food, water, and nonfood items are identified as the most urgent needs. Finding missing family members, lost while on the move, is also seen as a pressing concern for many. Having fled their homes with few possessions, a large number of the internally displaced people (IDPs) have lost their livelihoods and remain jobless. The governorates of Sa’ada, Sana’a, and Amran have the highest IDP to host community ratios, 33 per cent, 21 per cent, and 20 per cent respectively. Sa’ada has suffered the largest population change since the escalation of violence, last March, with 31 per cent of the population having fled. Most of the displaced originated from the five governorates of Taizz, Sa’ada, Amanat Al Asimah, Hajjah, and Sana’a. Another 2,300 households (about 13,800 people) who fled their homes in November due to cyclones Chapala and Megh, are still displaced mostly in Hadramaut Governorate. In recent months, over 421,000 displaced have returned to their homes in southern governorates despite ongoing violence. This includes nearly 4,000 households (nearly 24,000 people) who were displaced by the two cyclones and have returned to the governorates of Hadramaut, Shabwah, and Socotra.

Needs Analysis

Already mired in a humanitarian crisis when violence escalated in mid-March 2015, Yemen now counts 21.2 million people in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. This includes 14.4 million people unable to meet their food needs (of whom 7.6 million are severely food insecure), 19.4 million who lack clean water and sanitation (of whom 9.8 million lost access to water due to conflict), 14.1 million without adequate healthcare, and at least 2.7 million who have fled their homes within Yemen or to neighbouring countries. Verified reports of human rights violations have soared, with an average of 41 reports every day.

Over the first three months of 2016, humanitarian partners have made significant progress with regards to planning for improved needs identification and analysis. Learning from the Syria experience the Yemen operation plans to roll out a needs identification process that will allow more robust evidence based data collection on needs.

Response capacity

Humanitarian action continued to take place in a context of increased violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Despite the challenges faced by the humanitarian community to deliver, including administrative, bureaucractic, and security related, currently there are 106 humanitarian partners working to implement the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP). The number of national non-governmental organizations (NNGOs) remains at 69 partners. International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) have increased from 25 to 28, and UN agencies remain at nine.

Consistent with the highest estimated severity of needs presented in the 2016 Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), Taizz and Aden have the greatest number of partners, from all different clusters, 48 and 45 respectively, working in the governorates. Also, consistent with second highest level of needs identified in the HNO, Amanat Al Asimah closely follows with 40 partners and the governorates of Al Hudaydah, Lahj, Hajja, Amran, Sana’a, and Al Dhale all have over 30 partners each. Abyan, Al Bayda, Al Jawf, Hadramaut, Ibb, Marib, Shabwah, and Saa’da have over 20 partners each. Al Maharah, Al Mahwit, Dhamar, and Raymah have between 14 and 19 partners. The governorate with the smallest number of humanitarian partners, nine, is Socotra. This island was also identified to be the governorate with the lowest level of humanitarian needs in the 2016 HNO.

Key Milestones

Of particular mention is the strengthening of the “single reporting format” – a tool (which forms the basis for the created to collect response and presence data and used across clusters to inform response. While it is a tool that was set up in the summer of 2015, it has continued to improve and strengthen response analysis in Yemen. In the coming months, the information collected through this tool will also be triangulated with improved needs and access information to better understand response priorities and gaps.

Analysis

Funding analysis

To date the YHRP is 17% funded with US$ 303 million received against the US$ 1.8 billion under the appeal.

Funding: Required vs. Received to date (million $US)

1.8 billion ($US) / 302.6 million ($US) / 17%
Total Required / Total Received
CERF: No allocation in 2016
CHF: 31 million received / Total Funded
Unmet: 1.5 billion ($US)

Source: Financial Tracking Service (FTS) as of 20 April 2016

Cluster Performance

Clusters in Yemen are achieving against 2016 targets despite the tremendous administrative, bureaucratic and security challenges faced.

Challenges

-Disregard by parties to the conflict of their responsibilities under international human rights law and international humanitarian law to protect of civilians and civilian infrastructure. This is exacerbating the suffering of people, increasing the risks to them when seeking assistance, and creating an unsafe environment for those administereing the assistance.

-Administrative barriers imposed on humanitarian by all parties to the conflict are hindering access to those in need and timely and principled humanitarian action. Administrative barriers include inability by humanitarian to reach Yemen through a direct route from Amman, unusually cumbersome deconfliction procedures with Saudi led coalition in Riyadh, and increased number of checkpoints at the ground level across Yemen.

-Continued import restrictions on fuel, food and health, (in a country already heavily dependant on imports before the escalation of violence) making an already bad situation worse.

A peace process that while seeming to be on track, at different intervals, has not managed to secure the true solution- peace- that Yemen requires given the escaling humanitarian needs.

Analysis of achievements, against funding and challenges

While humanitarian funding has poured into Yemen during these first three months of 2016, funding levels are not comesurate with what is being achieved. Clusters are having to borrow monies from other accouts in order to help address the needs in Yemen.

Laurianne, a few paragraphs on the CERF and the Pooled Fund and on how this helps overall humanitarian implementation in Yemen, please

Education
Coordinator / Gawad Ahmed

Government Counterpart / xxx
People Targeted / 3 million
People Covered / 0.1 million
FUNDING
Requested / Received / Percent Funded
27.5m / 0.6m
CERF: xxm
CHF: xxm / 2%

Cluster Achievements

Yemen PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT January to March 2016

Progress towards Cluster Objectives

The cluster has reached over 97,000 people in the first three months of 2016. This has included assisting children, parents and teachers with education support in the areas of distribution of supplies, psychosocial training, and schools rehabilitation.

Changes in Context

Ongoing fighting continued to threaten children’s ability to return back to schools. A large number of schools remain either damaged or used as shelter by IDPs.The establishment of temporary learning spaces continues to be a priority.

Cluster Performance

The cluster continues to attain against it 2016 targers.

Challenges

Like many other clusters, under-reporting is an issue to manage. With only 2% of funding received the cluster has had to rely on other available funding to reach the 6% implementation for the January to March 2016 period.

Actions to be taken

The cluster will continue to 1) address any under-reporting that might be taking place, 2) better understand obstacles to response, 3) fully articulate obstacles to humanitarian leadership for possible support, and 4) continue to monitor needs and targets to ensure they remain relevant.

Food Security and Agriculture
Coordinator / Gordon Dudi

Government Counterpart / xxx
People Targeted / 8.9 million
People Covered / xxx
FUNDING
Requested / Received / Percent Funded
847.1m / 134.8m
CERF: xxm
CHF: xxm / 17%

Cluster Achievements

Yemen PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT January to March 2016

Progress towards Cluster Objectives

Over the course of the first three months of the year the cluster provided sustained food assistance to 3.4 million people in January, 3.5 million in February, and 5.4 million in March- this against a monthly target of 7.6 million. In addition, the cluster reached over 52,000 people with livelhoods assistance.

Changes in Context

Approximately 56% of the population (14.4 million Yemenis) are now food insecure, including 7.6 million who are severely food insecure. A further deterioration in the precarious food security situation is expected due to sporadic availability of essential food commodities and fuel, diminished income and employment opportunities, and disruption of markets and trade activities.

Cluster Performance

The cluster continues to out-perform itself every month around its emergency food assistance reach as a result of strong, planning, pre-positioning, and distribution. This is, however, tighly linked and dependent on the availability to foods for the pre-positioning of stocks.

Challenges

Like many other clusters, under-reporting is an issue to manage as is funding.

Actions to be taken

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Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Coordinator / Derek Kim

Government Counterpart / xxx
People Targeted / 7.4 million
People Covered / 2.5 million[2]
FUNDING
Requested / Received / Percent Funded
158.4m / 12m
CERF: xxm
CHF: xxm / 8%

Cluster Achievements

Progress towards Cluster Objectives

During the first three months of the year the cluster reached close to 4.3 million direct and indirect people across Yemen. This includes people assisted with support from rehabilitation and operational maintenance of affected rural and urban water and sanitation systems, and from the direct provision of safe drinking water. Many also benefitted from emergency latrine construction.

Changes in Context

In 2016, WASH partners intend to reach 7.4 million people with emergency WASH assistance. The majority of targeted people are in Sana’a, Taizz, Aden, Al Hudaydah, Abyan, Lahj, Hajjah and Hadramaut governorates.

Cluster Performance

The cluster continues to achieve against its targets.

Challenges

In the spirit of continual improvement around humanitarian response monitoring, this cluster like a few other clusters, is in the process of separating out its direct and indirect beneficiaries in order to better represent its reach. This will be represented in the up-coming dashboard in May and will necessarily impact the clusters overall targets and reach figures.