ReliefWeb

IDP Response

UNHCR and partners assisted close to 800 families displaced by conflict in Abyan and Al Dhale’e governorates.
UNHCR and partners distributed core relief items to over 450 newly displaced families (nearly 2,700 persons) in Zanjibar and Khanfar, and close to 350 families newly displaced by conflict in Al Dhale’e.

In this respect, UNHCR has nearly exhausted all its resources and will not be able to provide emergency assistance to families displaced by the conflict after June. UNHCR urgently needs funds to continue to provide emergency shelter and household kits to newly displaced families. If funds are not received, 281,000 highly vulnerable displaced people will be forced to live in open sites with exposure to harsh weather conditions and with no personal safety.

Refugee Response

Close to 100 Somali nationals recently deported to the south from the DFA controlled territories received assistance including pre-registration, health interventions, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and COVID-19 awareness-raising activities.

The most vulnerable among them also received a USD 75-equivalent cash assistance payment to afford food and necessary supplies

COVID-19 Response

The UNHCR-led Protection, Camp Coordination and Camp Management, and Shelter and Non-Food Items clusters released the tri-cluster COVID-19 Response plan for 2020. The strategy aims to support preventive measures and activities to reduce transmission, including community isolation spaces, distribution of hygiene items, hand washing stations, and cash assistance for some 730,000 IDPs living in hosting sites across the country.

UNHCR continues to adapt its interventions in the context of COVID-19 emergency response to ensure refugees, asylum-seekers, and IDPs receive lifesaving protection and assistance. Measures include expanding the Operation’s 24/7 protection hotlines; suspending large activities; shifting to house-to-house distribution (whenever possible); adopting COVID-19 prevention protocol at all services points and distribution sites to ensure adequate physical distancing and sanitation; providing training and equipment to community-based health workers, medical and support staff at UNHCR-supported health facilities; and increasing general advocacy for inclusion of PoCs into national COVID-19 responses.

UNHCR continues to advocate among donors to urgently mobilise the resources necessary to maintain its lifesaving aid programmes and implement its comprehensive COVID-19 preparedness and response needs in Yemen. The Operation’s COVID-19 comprehensive financial requirements amount to over USD 42 million, of which some USD 35 million comprises a cash assistance programme for displaced families affected by the pandemic. Since the beginning of the outbreak, UNHCR has supported over 70,000 displaced families (close to 450,000 individuals) with cash assistance to address risks relating to COVID-19.
UNHCR’s multi-purpose cash programmes are the largest cash assistance programs for displaced populations in Yemen, providing a lifeline to the most vulnerable since its launch in 2018.