ReliefWeb

Highlights

• The first round of the nationwide polio vaccination campaign was implemented with COVID-19 precautionary measures between 28 and 30 November 2020 in 13 northern governorates. The campaign targeted 4.1 million children under five years of age and a total of 3.8 million children (91%), were vaccinated. The next polio campaign is planned for 5 and 7 December 2020 in 10 southern governorates and will target 1,100,151 children.

• UNICEF Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) reported 259 cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD)/cholera in eight governorates in the Aden Hub. RRTs response included the surrounding 21 households (HHs) with 5,439 families. RRTs distributed 4,287 Consumable Hygiene Kits (CHKs), consisting of 12,891 chlorine tablets 1.67g, 5,250 chlorine tablets 33mg, and 437 jerry cans.

• 5.8 million students in Yemen remain in need of sustained support to access quality education. More than 2 million children continue to be out of school nationwide. Despite the resumption of the school year in Q3, children still require support in establishing safe learning environments and continuing their education.

Funding Overview and Partnerships

As part of the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC), which is aligned to the 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP), UNICEF has revised its appeal to $452 million, from the original $535 million. A separate, dedicated HAC on COVID-19 is also activated in Yemen, with its reporting mechanism. As of 30 November 2020, UNICEF has an overall funding gap of $242 million. A total of $173 million was carried forward from 2019. While UNICEF continues fundraising for its 2020 HAC appeal, it has received only $96 million to date for a total of $296 million funds available. The YHRP has received a total of $1.6 billion from donors, or 49% of the total $3.38 billion funding requirements for humanitarian and relief assistance in Yemen for 2020.

Despite the funding gaps and operational constraints, UNICEF continued to implement its responses using COVID-19 adapted modalities, including vaccinating over 3.8 million children during the first nationwide round of the polio campaign. As of 30 November, UNICEF has received $78 million against the $103 million appeal for the COVID-19 response in Yemen.

As part of continuing efforts to strengthen risk prevention and management measures, UNICEF continued to implement recommendations from the 2019 Office of Internal Audit and Investigation’s internal audit report. As a result, UNICEF actively implemented a series of risk mitigation measures to effectively deliver for children in a highly challenging and complex environment. UNICEF implemented the enhanced Harmonised Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT Plus). HACT Plus is a risk management framework that goes beyond the regular HACT framework adopted along with other UN agencies. It transcends the minimum prescribed assurance activities in HACT, a decision that is determined by the inherent risk exposure and operating environment.