nlp-thedeep/humsetbias huggingface dataset:
Some 8.4 million people are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation; a 24 per cent increase since 2017. Some 7.5 million people need nutrition assistance including 1.8 million children and 1.1 million pregnant or lactating women who are acutely malnourished. Five governorates  ( Al Hudaydah, Lahj, Taizz, Abyan and Hadramaut )  have acute malnutrition rates above the emergency threshold set by the World Health Organisation of 15 per cent. Purchasing power and social safety nets for millions of people have been eroded as more than 1.25 million public servants have not been regularly paid their salaries for over a year.
Combined, these have a handling capacity of 660,000 MT per month  ( 150,000 MT of fuel, 295,000 MT of food, 90,000 MT of NFIs )  and a milling capacity of 8,000 MT per day. Although Al Hudaydah port has sustained conflict related damage, even at reduced capacity there is no viable substitute for the port both in terms of infrastructure and proximity to Yemen's largest population centres. Approximately 71 per cent of the people in need in Yemen are located in areas in close proximity to these ports.
Yemen is grappling with a spike in diphtheria, which has claimed 48 lives in the last two months. WHO reported on 11 January 2018 that diphtheria related deaths had been recorded in 19 governorates. Across the country, 610 suspected cases have been reported. The diphtheria outbreak occurs against the backdrop of a cholera epidemic accounting for more than 2,200 lives lost and more than one million suspected cases reported, since April 2017.
The last major diphtheria outbreak in Yemen occurred in 1982. The infectious disease primarily infects the throat and upper airways, has acute onset and is spread through direct physical contact or from breathing in secretions from coughs or sneezes of infected individuals. Currently, Ibb and Al Hudaydah governorates are the hardest hit by the infectious disease. Low vaccination coverage, a weak health system and the deteriorating security situation pose additional challenges to the management of the disease. According to WHO, the recent blockade delayed the provision of diphtheria vaccines and anti serum, and laboratory supplies. Moreover, Yemen is currently not the only country experiencing a diphtheria outbreak, leading to difficulties in the timely availability of vaccines, medications and medical supplies
WHO reports that the overall number of weekly reported suspected cholera cases has decreased, prompting health partners to close 230 cholera treatment facilities in the course of 2017. The closed facilities are in Hajjah  ( 62 facility ) , Taizz  ( 33 ) , Amran  ( 36 ) , Sana'a  ( 16 ) , Al Hudaydah  ( 19 )  and Dhamar  ( 26 ) . The partners are still operating 3,875 Diarrhoea Treatment Centre  ( DTC )  beds in 292 DTCs in addition to 951 Oral Rehydration Points  ( ORPs )  in 20 governorates and 232 affected districts. Going forward, the Health Cluster is discussing recommendations for integrating cholera treatment facilities into health system in Yemen.
Although the health system has been weakened by ongoing conflict, humanitarian partners continue to deliver medical assistance. On 20 December 2017, nearly six million doses of essential vaccines for preventable diseases  ( tetanus and diphtheria vaccine for 2.7 million children and adults up to the age of 25, and Pentavalent vaccine to protect 2.5 million children against whooping cough, hepatitis B and diphtheria ) ; and another 70 MT of emergency health items and lifesaving drugs were delivered to Sana'a airport.
Yemen's formal market systems are disconnected and commodity movements have been disrupted resulting in the escalation of prices of essential food and non food commodities. At the same time, more than 1.2 million public servants have not regularly received their salaries for more than a year. Any deflationary impact on the economy will only worsen the current humanitarian crisis by increasing hardships for many households.
According to the UN Refugee Agency  ( UNHCR )  in Yemen, at least 152 Somali and Ethiopian refugees and migrants left the Yemeni port of Aden on an overcrowded boat with people smugglers on 23 January. The boat never made it to its destination in Djibouti after it capsized amid reports of guns being fired on board.
LONDON  ( Reuters )    Britain called on Iran to stop taking actions which could escalate the conflict in Yemen after a United Nations group of experts found that missiles and military equipment of Iranian origin were introduced into Yemen after an arms embargo.
A proxy war is playing out in Yemen between Iran and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. A Saudi led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing government forces fighting Iran allied Houthi rebels. Iran has denied supplying the Houthis weapons.
Three years of escalated conflict have turned Yemen into the worst man made humanitarian crisis of our time. Three quarters of the population – 22.2 million people – need humanitarian assistance, including 11.3 million people in acute need who urgently require assistance to survive.
A generation of children is growing up in suffering and deprivation. Nearly two million children are out of school, 1.8 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, including 400,000 who suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are 10 times more likely to die if they do not receive medical treatment.
After clashes broke out between the former allies in Sanaa, Houthi forces killed former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on December 4 as he tried to leave the city.
The armed conflict has taken a terrible toll on the civilian population. The coalition has conducted scores of indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes hitting civilian objects that have killed thousands of civilians in violation of the laws of war, with munitions that the US, United Kingdom, and others still supply. Houthi Saleh forces have fired artillery indiscriminately into cities such as Taizz and Aden, killing civilians, and launched rockets into southern Saudi Arabia.
As of November, at least 5,295 civilians had been killed and 8,873 wounded, according to the UN human rights office, although the actual civilian casualty count is likely much higher.
The war is also exacerbating the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe. Both sides are unlawfully impeding the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
The coalition has used cluster munitions, while Houthi Saleh forces have used antipersonnel landmines both weapons are banned by international treaties.
Both sides have harassed, threatened, and attacked Yemeni activists and journalists. Houthi Saleh forces, government affiliated forces, and the United Arab Emirates and UAE backed Yemeni forces have arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared scores.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia pledged to reduce civilian harm in coalition attacks. Since then, Human Rights Watch documented six coalition attacks that killed 55 civilians, including 33 children; one killed 14 members of the same family. The UN Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights  ( OHCHR )  office reported in September that coalition airstrikes remain “the leading cause of civilian casualties.'
Yemen suffers from a shortage of equipped and trained personnel who can systematically clear mines and explosive remnants of war.
Houthi Saleh forces have cracked down on dissent, closing several dozen NGOs, carrying out enforced disappearances, torturing detainees, and arbitrarily detaining numerous activists, journalists, tribal leaders, political opponents, and members of the Baha'i community. Since August 2014, Human Rights Watch has documented the Sanaa based authorities' arbitrary or abusive detention of dozens of people, including two deaths in custody and 11 cases of alleged torture or other ill treatment.
In areas of southern Yemen nominally under government control, Human Rights Watch has documented more than 50 people, including four children, arbitrarily detained or disappeared. UAE backed security forces abusively detained or disappeared most of these individuals. The UAE runs at least two informal detention facilities, where they have continued to detain people despite release orders and reportedly moved high profile detainees outside the country.
After President Donald Trump took office, the number of US drone attacks in Yemen increased significantly. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the US carried out 37 drone attacks in Yemen in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, but by October, the US had carried out 105 drone attacks in 2017. The US said it targeted AQAP in the majority of attacks but announced in late 2017 it carried out attacks on IS Y that killed “dozens.'
The US has conducted at least two ground raids in Yemen since January, reportedly alongside the UAE, one of which killed at least 14 civilians, including nine children. The US may be complicit in detainee abuse by UAE forces. According to the Associated Press, the US has sent interrogators to Yemen and sent questions to and seen transcripts from UAE interrogations. The US has not made public any investigations conducted into its raids in Yemen or participation in UAE or Yemeni abuse of detainees.
The Saudi led coalition's restrictions on imports have worsened the dire humanitarian situation. The coalition has delayed and diverted fuel tankers, closed critical ports and stopped goods from entering seaports controlled by the Houthis. Fuel needed to power generators to hospitals and pump water to civilian residences has also been blocked.
In November, the coalition temporarily blocked all entry points to Yemen in response to a Houthi Saleh missile attack on Riyadh, gravely worsening the humanitarian situation. Key restrictions remain. In August 2016, the coalition suspended all commercial flights to Sanaa, “having serious implications for patients seeking urgent medical treatment abroad,' according to the UN. Since May, the coalition has blocked international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, from traveling to areas of Yemen under Houthi control.
Houthi Saleh forces have blocked and confiscated food and medical supplies and denied access to populations in need. They have imposed onerous restrictions on aid workers and interfered with aid delivery. Aid groups have ceased working in some areas due to these restrictions. The cumulative impact of Houthi Saleh obstruction and interference with humanitarian assistance has significantly harmed the civilian population.
Houthi forces, government and pro government forces, and other armed groups have used child soldiers, an estimated one third of the fighters in Yemen. By August 2017, the UN had documented 1,702 cases of child recruitment since March 2015, 67 percent of which were attributable to Houthi Saleh forces. About 100 were younger than 15. Under Yemeni law, 18 is the minimum age for military service. In 2014, Yemen signed a UN action plan to end the use of child soldiers. Due to the conflict and without an effective government in place, the action plan has not been implemented.
In January, the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan  ( YHRP )  was launched, seeking US$2.96 billion to provide life saving assistance to 13.1 million vulnerable people across the country. This is the largest consolidated humanitarian appeal for Yemen. If fully funded, the UN and its partners will provide, among other assistance, emergency food to more than 8.5 million Yemenis, nutritional services to 5.6 million children, pregnant women and mothers, and safe water to 5.4 million people. In addition, more than 1,400 schools and 650 health facilities destroyed by the ongoing conflict will be rehabilitated.
In 2017, donors provided US$1.65 billion  ( 70.5 per cent )  out of US$2.34 billion that humanitarian partners in Yemen requested. UNFPA received US$ 15.4 million  ( 70 per cent )  out of US$22.1 million requested to support its humanitarian response in Yemen in 2017.
The Yemeni state is fractured. A political resolution that excludes key stakeholders, such as southern opposition members, will not hold, though the upcoming change in the UN Special Envoy for Yemen presents an opportunity to renew diplomatic negotiations.
Malaria   which peaks in the rainy season   is endemic in Yemen, with more than 78 percent of people living in at risk areas and a quarter of them in high risk areas, WHO said.
In an emailed statement, Hodeib said the situation in Yemen “provided the optimal conditions for the growth and re emergence of communicable diseases' in a country that is already battling a million suspected cholera cases and a threatened diphtheria outbreak.
“The numbers of malaria cases could increase. It will be more serious if there is no treatment or preventative measures. People will die,' said Radman from the capital of Sanaa.
The detente followed mediation by a Saudi led military coalition, which is trying to halt the worst infighting yet among its allies in a wider war against the Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
Separatist military units gained full control of Aden on Tuesday with the exception of a fortified presidential palace housing the prime minister's cabinet. But the fighters ceded two bases later on Tuesday.
“Government institutions were handed back and the  ( southern )  militias withdrew,' a government source told Reuters.
Residents reported that banks and businesses reopened on Wednesday as traffic resumed on the streets after many people spent days indoors fleeing from combat which killed at least 20 fighters.
The separatist leader Aidaroos al Zubaidi, speaking on Tuesday to France 24 Arabic TV, said his side remained loyal to Hadi and had no plans to quit the battle against the Houthis.
Yemen's health ministry, along with aid organizations, has distributed protective items such as mosquito nets, but Radman called the deteriorating situation a “serious issue'.
“A failing sewage system, inadequate healthcare facilities and shortages in health workers and medical supplies, as well as restrictions on imports further compound the healthcare crisis,' said Hodeib of ICRC.
GENEVA  ( Reuters )    At least 471 people in Yemen are believed to have been infected with diphtheria, killing one in 10 of them since the outbreak began in mid August, the World Health Organization  ( WHO )  said on Thursday.
The spread of diphtheria   which can be prevented by vaccine   compounds widespread hunger and one of the worst cholera outbreaks ever recorded, with more than 1 million cases and 2,227 deaths since April.
Along with UNICEF, it has vaccinated children around Ibb against the disease.
Although the military coalition fighting the Iran aligned Houthi movement in Yemen's civil war has eased its month long blockade of ports, 8.4 million Yemenis are a step away from famine, the United Nations  ( U.N. )  said on Monday.
The coalition introduced the blockade to stop Iran sending weapons to its Houthi allies through Yemen's main Hodeidah port, where most food supplies enter. Iran has denied supplying arms.
The Houthis control most of the north while the Saudi led coalition controls the airspace. Any reopening would need an agreement between the two sides, which blame each other for Yemen's humanitarian disaster   one of the world's worst.
Hunger and disease have been unleashed by the two year old conflict, and the United Nations estimates 10,000 people have been killed.
SANAA  ( Reuters )    Yemen's cholera outbreak is so widespread that just drinking water can lead to death.
Nearly 2,000 people have already succumbed to one of the worst recorded outbreaks of cholera in modern history, with over 400,000 having contracted the disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Cholera, a diarrheal disease spread by ingestion of food or water tainted with human faeces, can kill within hours if untreated. It has been largely eradicated in developed countries equipped with sanitation systems and water treatment.
But Yemen's devastating civil war, pitting a Saudi led military coalition against the armed Houthi group, and economic collapse has made it extremely difficult to deal with catastrophes such as cholera and mass hunger.
More than 2 million children are malnourished, and almost 400,000 of those suffer from severe malnutrition and require therapeutic treatment to stay alive.
Meanwhile, the parched and mountainous country is in danger of running out of water, leaving its 28 million mostly impoverished citizens facing another crisis.
A dearth of clean water has forced many residents to queue up and fill jerry cans from water trucks.
The United Nations estimates that in Yemen a child under the age of five dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes, two million people have fled fighting near their homes and only half of hospitals have staff and supplies to function normally.
LONDON  ( Thomson Reuters Foundation )    Amid warnings by the United Nations that Yemen could face “the largest famine the world has seen for many decades with millions of victims', aid agencies have called for food, fuel and medicines to be allowed into the country immediately.
The Saudi led military coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday it had closed all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran.
7 million people in Yemen are facing famine like conditions and rely completely on food aid to survive. In six weeks, the food supplies to feed them will be exhausted.
Dozens of ships carrying food and supplies to Yemen have been stopped since 2015 by warships belonging to Saudi Arabia and its allies seeking to stop arms reaching Houthi fighters seeking to overthrow the government.
An unprecedented cholera epidemic has infected about 900,000 people in Yemen and killed more than 2,100 since April.
Oil revenues accounted for over two thirds of Yemen's last budget, rolled out in Jan. 2014, but the war badly damaged the sector and analysts say exports are down by nearly a quarter.
The two fighting groups together rule northern Yemen and have maintained an uneasy alliance throughout the largely stalemated conflict that has killed at least 10,000 people and unleashed hunger and disease.
The cholera outbreak has compounded a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where a Saudi Arabia led coalition intervened in a civil war in 2015, backing government forces fighting Iran allied Houthi rebels. The fighting has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced another two million.
“The Coalition categorically denies blocking any aid or vital provisions from reaching the Yemeni people, and asserts that these claims lack any viable evidence,' a coalition spokesman said in an emailed statement.
Vital provisions – food, medicine, fuel, medical equipment, batteries, solar panels and more – are not getting through.
Humanitarian shipments of food and medicine have mostly been allowed into the country, the story said, but Saudi led forces have delayed both aid and commercial shipments and have also closed ports outright.
The city also has important economic and com  mercial functions. Sana'a is home to approxi  mately 30 percent of industrial establishments in Yemen and has a concentration of higher  order commercial and services activities, including banking and financial services.
With the 1962 revolution and the establishment of a modern republic, Sana'a began to evolve rapidly, spilling outside the old city walls and expanding in a radial manner along major roads. As a result the total area of the city expanded from merely 3.7 square kilo  meters in 1962 to more than 40 square kilome  ters in the end of the 1970s. Fastest growth has taken place since 1980 along the north south roads starting from the airport in the north to Ta'iz in the south, and to a lesser degree, prob  ably for reasons of difficult topography, east and west towards the towns of Hodaideh, Al  Mahaweet, Hadda, and Marib.
Rapid urban growth led to the establishment of the Municipality of Capital Sana'a  ( amanet al  aasema sana'a )  by Presidential Decree No. 13 of 1983. Another presidential decree No. 2 of 2001 was issued dividing the Municipality of the Capital Sana'a into nine administrative areas or directorates  ( muderiat ) , plus added Bani
cent of the country's population, but in less than three decades the population had grown more than tenfold to reach 1.7 million inhabitants in 2004, representing 9 percent of Yemen's total population. If the 1994–2004 population rate of increase of Sana'a continues, the city popula  tion will double in 13 years and increase by over three times by 2027. It is interesting to note that the Comprehensive Traffic Management Study for Sana'a  ( Team International, 2006 )  projected a population of 2.847 million in 2014 and 3.825 million by 2024.
the public water network is estimated to cover only 55 percent of the city's households. The problem of undersupply is exacerbated by the physical deterioration of the net  work, which results in serious leakages  ( estimated at 40 percent ) . As a result, water supply in Sana'a is rationed a particular area of the city will have water in the system only one day in 15, and deliveries of water by private tanker truck must make up the shortfall. For the 45 percent of households without connections to the water network, supply by tanker truck is the only option, and an expensive one. It is estimated that cur  rent domestic water consumption per capita is already only 30–50 liters per capita per day, far below urban norms in the MENA region. This water shortage poses problems not just in residential areas but also repre  sents a severe constraint for industry and commerce. This issue is crucial for determining the future spa  tial development trends of the city and its population growth pattern.
The massive population growth and the absence of effective urban planning and control instruments have led to a very rapid proliferation of informal land devel  opment and housing construction, particularly since 1990. Much construction in Sana'a over the past decade has taken place in unplanned areas without building permits and in the absence of infrastructure and municipal ser  vices. City planners, lacking a coherent up to  date city master plan, have prepared detailed neighborhood plans for some of these sprawl  ing areas after development has started.
Several squatter settlements are also found in Sana'a, including on lands reserved for public facilities and in flood paths and other marginal land. Squatter populations have no secure land tenure and lack access to basic infrastructure and municipal services. The municipality has undertaken some projects to upgrade squatter settlements and resettle squatters living in flood prone areas  ( e.g., el saila )  in public housing projects. The improvement of living conditions in squatter settlements and the socio economic integration of the poor in the city's fabric is a pressing priority and an explicit aim of local authorities in Sana'a.
Less than 40 percent of the city is served with sewage network service, while the majority of the buildings still rely on individual solutions that can negatively affect underground sources of water. The area of Sana'a Basin  ( one of the city's main well fields )  is among those areas facing the problem of groundwater contami  nation because of informal development and industries. Until now it has proven impossible to protect this area from urban expansion, as it is one of the main sources of water for the city.
Sana'a exists in an upland basin or bowl sur  rounded on all sides by higher elevations, not dissimilar to Mexico City or Kathmandu. The rapid rise in the number of vehicles over the past decade and the relatively cheap price of fuel  ( in spite of the recent price hikes )  has resulted in ever increasing volumes of pollut  ants being released into the atmosphere. These factors lead at times to thermal inversions and polluted, stagnant air, which is a common com  plaint in Sana'a.
Various surveys as well as interviews with entrepreneurs underscore how corruption intervenes in transactions where govern  ment administrations are involved, such as taxation, foreign trade, and permits, among others. Significant extra legal payments are stated to be common.
The present structure of the Municipality is based on the general organizational structure of governorates,10 but with a number of modi  fications and additions. There are two kinds of organizational units:  ( 1 )  those tied directly to the Governor, that is, the governor's office, the executive office, and the executive agencies  ( described in the next section ) , and  ( 2 )  those tied to the Governor through an administrative pyramid. The latter include 13 general admin  istrations  ( idarat aama )  over which the deputy governor  ( who as also the general secretary or amin aam al majlis al mahali )  presides. There are also one or more governorate under  secretaries  ( wakil al muhafadha )  whose tasks are determined by governor's decree. Cur  rently there are four such undersecretaries in the Municipality, one for each of  ( 1 )  cleanliness and environment,  ( 2 )  office affairs,  ( 3 )  finan  cial and administrative affairs, and  ( 4 )  technical affairs. These report directly to the First Under  secretary of the Governorate.
As mentioned above, there are ten districts  ( mudiriyat ) , which make up the Municipality, and each is geographically defined. Under the Local Authorities Law each district is an inde  pendent local authority, with its own elected local council and its own juridical personal  ity. The district administration is headed by an appointed general director  ( mudir aam )  who reports to the district local council. The sectoral organs of the Municipality  ( for example, health, education, technical affairs, etc. )  each have service branches in the 10 districts.
Lahj governorate is different from other governorates of Yemen. Fierce wars took place on its land, not only with Houthis, but with members of Al Qaeda and ISIS. They used it as a den for them for a period of time. Lahj succeeded in restoring security to a large extent. The majority of terrorist elements were killed, but there are still some elements in what is described by officials and people as "sleeper cells".
Despite the “remarkable' recent progress, Yemen continues to suffer from a humanitarian crisis described by the UN as the worst in the world, together with fighting between Government and Houthi movement opposition forces across the country, said Martin Griffiths, who said “it's still going to be a hard slog to make it work according to plan'.
Yemen's remaining hospitals are packed with such patients: for them too the ceasefire is crucial. For months dedicated medical staff, with support from the ICRC, have struggled to keep going, despite the violence, and despite massive shortages of medicines, supplies, and fuel. Al Thawrah hospital in Hodeida itself has been especially badly affected.
From week 42 to week 44, the trend of weekly reported suspected cholera cases is decreasing by 14% at country level. However, there are five governorates  ( Al Mahwit, Ibb, Hajjah, Al Jawf, and Aden )  reporting an increase in suspected cholera cases. This week, the governorates reporting the highest number of suspected cases are Sana'a  ( 1835 ) , Amran  ( 1799 ) , Ibb  ( 1697 )  Dhamar  ( 1737 )  and Amanat Al Asimah  ( 1539 ) .
From an estimation conducted by the analysts on the situation in absence of Humanitarian Food Assistance, 151 districts out of 333 would likely be in a more severe phase, which is the primary source of food for over 30% of the Yemenis households.
Al Hudaydah and Saleef sea ports continued to operate but the number of vessels berthing at the ports over recent weeks has declined. According to WFP, operations at Al Hudaydah port have decreased by 47 per cent in the two weeks to 20 November. In addition, as a result of ongoing fighting, fewer port staff are reporting for work for safety and security reasons, further decreasing the capacity of the port.
A three day polio vaccination campaign supported by WHO and UNICEF was launched in all four governorates in Al Hudaydah hub on 26 November targeting all children under age 5. Ahead of the campaign, UNICEF appealed for a cessation of hostilities in all active conflict districts in Al Hudaydah Governorate: Ad Durahyimi, Bayt Al Faqiah, At Tuhayat, Al Kawkhah, Al Hays, Al Garrahi, Al Hali, Al Mina, Al Hawak and Zabid.
A WFP survey of registered beneficiaries has revealed that many in the capital have not been receiving the food rations to which they are entitled. In other areas, hungry people have been denied full rations. Millions of people depend on food assistance for their survival in Yemen which has been torn apart by a bitter civil war between government forces and Houthi insurgents.
WFP is currently scaling up its food relief operations to reach as many as 12 million severely hungry people in Yemen. Without food assistance, as many as 20 million people could be in hunger crisis in the country which has been torn apart by a bitter civil war over recent years. WFP's food assistance has been key in preventing famine in Yemen but, as the food security situation continues to deteriorate, the aid effort is being ramped up dramatically.
In areas prone to abuse, WFP is pressing for an overhaul of the relief system, including an ongoing push for more monitoring, reform of the beneficiary selection process to ensure that food gets to those most in need, and the nationwide introduction of biometric registration of beneficiaries. These changes have been repeatedly resisted by the de facto authorities in Houthi controlled areas.
Over the month, 18 Partners of the Shelter/NFI/CCM Cluster continued the delivery of assistance to people in need reaching out to a total of 102,484 of Yemenis whose lives have been uprooted by the conflict and natural disasters. The Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster facilitated a training on the 27th of November which focused on the Site Coordination and Management which was participated by 37 participants from Cluster Partners and authorities to build their capacity on their roles and responsibilities while providing services within the IDP Hosting Sites and boost their understanding on the integrated multi cluster response methodology.
In 2018, UNHCR scaled up its cash programming, to assist close to 800,000 Yemenis and 130,000 refugees by disbursing USD 48 million. By monitoring new displacement and working with service providers, community centres and community leaders, UNHCR and its partners identified and assessed the needs of over 160,000 vulnerable households.
As such, the conflict has also taken a heavy toll on local businesses. The preliminary findings of a recent survey conducted by the World Bank in October 2018 shows that around 35% of businesses in the country have closed, and over 51% of surviving firms have experienced a shrinkage in size and a scaling down of operations. Around 73% of closed firms cited security and financial constraints as the main reason for closure, with financial constraints, the increase of input costs, and the loss of demand and customer base as the main reasons for the change in many firms' size.
Immediate emergency assistance for newly displaced families remains a significant challenge as the majority of displaced families tend to live in precarious situations for several weeks before basic emergency shelter and NFI assistance can be provided. Majority of IDPs in Yemen are living with host families but displacement already lasted longer than anticipated, resources run out and the capacity of host families is extremely stretched. In other hand, over course of the year, an increasing number of IDPs families who are living in rented accommodation admitted to owing their landlords large sums of money for rent, others left their rented accommodation out of shame or were forced out by the landlords and ended up residing in IDPs hosting sites or host families.
This situation has led to high level of dependency on the humanitarian support including on the repeated provision of emergency shelter and essential household items as the conflict continues. However, addressing this challenge among humanitarian agencies has been challenging due to operational complexities, limited humanitarian space they are operating within and lack of funding. The widespread insecurity that hampers area physical access, bureaucratic procedures, unpredictable access to affected areas and restrictive operating environment are some of the variables that contribute to this limitation. This reality has put constraints in the collection of primary, comprehensive and real time information about the crisis and created an information gap on the plight of the affected population and their real needs. This has further led to dependency on secondary data sources as the basis for programmatic planning, which in most cases are not representative and often based on estimations with a high level of subjectivity.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification  ( IPC )  analysis publicized in November 2018, while accounting for the current levels of Humanitarian Food Assistance  ( HFA ) , from December 2018 to January 2019, 17 per cent of the population  ( about 5 million people )  analyzed will be in IPC Phase 4  ( Emergency )  and 36 per cent  ( about 10.8 million people )  will be in IPC Phase 3  ( Crisis ) . Of greatest concern are the 65,000 people in IPC Phase 5  ( Catastrophe ) . Overall, this constitutes or 53 per cent of the total population, approximately 15.9 million people. It is estimated that in the absence of HFA, about 20 million people of the total population  ( including Internally Displaced People )  may be in need of urgent action to save lives and livelihoods. This includes 240,000 people in IPC Phase 5  ( Catastrophe ) , i.e. threefold the ual number. In terms of severity, the worst affected areas are located in Al Hudaydah, Amran, Hajjah, Taiz and Saada Governorates.1
The Ministry of Public Health and Population  ( MoPHP ) , in partnership with UNICEF and WHO, implemented a nationwide, three day house to house polio vaccination campaign reaching 3.8 million children under five years.2 More than 40,000 health workers and volunteers visited about 3.2 million houses to deliver Oral Polio Vaccines  ( OPV )  drops. Approximately 5,200 supervisors, monitors and local authority staff from all levels were involved to oversee the field activities and provide technical and logistical assistance to the polio vaccination teams.
Since the onset of the second wave of Acute Watery Diarrhea  ( AWD ) /cholera outbreak on 27 April 2017, the cumulative total of suspected cholera cases until end of November 2018 has reached 1,326,513 with 2,627 associated deaths  ( 0.20 per cent case fatality rate )  across the country. A total of 306 out of the 333 districts in Yemen have reported cases during this year – the national attack rate is 451.89 per 10,000 people. Children under the age of five continue to represent 28.8 per cent of the total suspected cases.
Since the beginning of January to 11 November 2018, there have been almost 277,000 suspected cholera cases and 347 associated deaths,  ( CFR 0.13 per cent ) . A total of 218 of the 333 districts in country have reported cases during 2018. In addition, a total of 153,428 rapid diagnostic tests  ( RDTs )  have been performed with 34,721 found positive  ( 23 per cent )  and 2,845 cases  ( sampled out of the 9,230 )  tested have been confirmed by culture tests  ( 31 per cent ) . The last four weeks indicate a gradual reduction in the cases reported.
UNICEF and partners continued supporting the scale up of the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition  ( CMAM )  programme, in coordination with the Nutrition Cluster partners, primarily the World Food Programme and the World Health Organisation. Since the beginning of 2018, UNICEF treated 278,483 children for Severe Acute Malnutrition  ( SAM ) , thereby reaching 101 per cent of the annual target.6
UNICEF is also responding to internally displaced populations  ( IDPs )  in collaboration with Rapid Response Mechanism  ( RRM )  partners through water trucking, installation of water points/ communal water tanks, construction of emergency latrines, distribution of hygiene kits and distribution of household water treatment tablets, reaching over 17,000 IDPs families in Al Hudaydah, Taizz and Aden. The WASH Cluster partners finalised household level assessments across 38 districts, focusing on districts with high cholera cases, famine risk and internally displaced persons. Findings will inform the humanitarian needs overview and partner scale up in critical locations. Sixty five WASH partners are active in the WASH Cluster, and have continued to respond to life saving needs, from those displaced from Al Hudaydah, and additional 6,000 households are being supported within Hajjah. Whilst the emergency response has been scaled up, partners are identifying and committing to sustainable solutions, such as solar energy. A solar training for WASH agencies was conducted in Sana'a as well as the activation of a cash for WASH Working Group to develop guidance to improve markets based response.
Soaring food and fuel prices, stagnant salaries, loss of Limited access to food is compounded by several factors, livelihoods and reduced food production have led to including the effects of low incomes, the depreciation of widespread food insecurity across the country. There are the Yemeni currency, uncertainty of access to Yemen's Red 6.5 million people unable to meet their food needs and a Sea ports, large family sizes, high unemployment rates, and further 4 million people at risk of food insecurity  ( HNO 2018 ) . While 2018 has seen a significant change in conflict the irregular or non payment of salaries of many civil lines, some 1.5 million people remain in hard to reach servants.
In addition to the Immediate Response Rations provided to displaced people fleeing violence from Hodeidah, WFP is also providing a one off General Food Assistance  ( GFA )  ration, either in kind or via a commodity voucher to all newly displaced people, sufficient for one month. Thus far, WFP has provided 584,406 people with a one off GFA ration 252,318 IDPs have received in kind general food distributions  ( GFD )  and 332,088 have received commodity vouchers in 14 governorates.
Since the Nov. 2017 blockade food and fuel imports have declined and only one containerized shipped was permitted to offload at Hudaydah. Since Nov. 2017, food imports are meeting 77% of estimated national food requirements, on average each month and 19% below the pre blockade average. Fuel imports are meeting less than one quarter of estimated national fuel requirements, with no change to the average since Sept., but still 6% below the pre blockade period. Since the blockade, on average 20 vessels are berthing and discharging at Hudaydah and Saleef, a 41% reduction from the pre blockade the average of 35 vessels. There is a 38% decline in vessel clearance requests  ( 24 )  compared to pre blockade average of 40 vessels. In November 2018, food imports increased 9% while fuel imports declined 8% from October levels.
Lahj has 15 directorates, with about 35 archeological sites dating back to the ancient Yemeni civilization, most notably the remains of ancient buildings and fortresses, the famous citadel of Al Mokhatra and the fortress of AL Hajar. The city is basically rural, and its population relies mainly on agriculture and raising sheep, so it was named the country of “vegetables and fruits'. Before it was attacked by Houthis it was an important barracks for Al Qaeda. It was cleared recently, and now checkpoints and legitimate government forces are spread along the roads inside the governorate.
The road from Aden to Lahj was not easy, and was fraught with dangers. On the one hand, there are the "sleeper cells". On the other hand, there are mines planted by Houthi militias everywhere in the Yemeni lands. After the militias were vanquished in Aden and a number of southern governorates, they planted mines heavily in the sites they were expelled from, leaving behind fields of death. Residents say Houthis and their allied forces have planted anti vehicle mines and anti personnel mines in Lahj and on the roads leading to it from other governorates. According to experts at Rasd Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations Houthi planted more than 40 thousand mines in Aden, Dalea, Lahj, and Abyan, while the total number of mines removed from Yemen is 200 thousand. So far 226209 mines, explosive devices, and shells have been removed from the southern governorates and the western coast, where the explosions are concentrated, according to the National Demining Program of the Yemeni Cabinet.
UNHCR is supporting health facilities serving displaced  ( IDPs )  and host communities in Amran Governorate, where public land has been allocated to IDPs. UNHCR has provided laboratory equipment and medical supplies to the general hospital in Kharif district  ( 50km north of Sana'a ) . The hospital is near public land which neighbouring Raydah district has agreed can be used to accommodate 126 IDP families  ( 740 individuals ) , whose current shelters are on private land. Living on private land since 2015, IDP families have been vulnerable to forced eviction, having been unable to establish secure tenure at their current site. The new IDP site is 3 kilometres away from their present location, and 1 kilometre from the hospital, which will be well placed to serve the IDPs and to continue serving the host community.
Persistent conflict continues to seriously compromise all economic activities, including agricultural livelihoods. Supply of urea, seeds and fuel is particularly scarce in Aden, Hodeidah and Al Baidha governorates, while high prices are reported in all governorates. High fuel prices are constraining agricultural activities, particularly those related to irrigated crops, with consequent increases in the share of rainfed crops which, in turn, bear lower yields. In most conflict affected areas, hired agricultural labour tends to be replaced by family labour to cope with the increased costs of production. At the same time, many rural households rely on casual labour opportunities as their main source of income. The severity of the impact varies across the country depending on the security situation.
Total cereal production in 2018 is estimated at 440 000 tonnes, slightly below the previous year's conflict affected harvest, but over 30 percent below the five year average. On average, total domestic cereal production covers less than 20 percent of the total utilization  ( food, feed and other uses ) . The country is largely dependent on imports from the international markets to satisfy its domestic consumption requirement for wheat, the main staple. The share of domestic wheat production in total food utilization in the last ten years is between 5 to 10 percent, depending on the domestic harvest.
Two issues were not agreed in Sweden: the reopening of Sana'a airport, and the collection of revenue by the Central Bank of Yemen. Regarding the former, Mr. Griffiths said that the opening of the airport is still being negotiated, and should be resolved before the next round of talks. It is hoped that technical experts from the Central Bank, with assistance from the International Monetary Fund  ( IMF )  will be able to formulate a transparent process for revenue collection, in order to pay the salaries of civil servants throughout Yemen, who have often gone without pay for months on end.
Fuel provided to 32 health centres and water to 53 health facilities; support provided to 421 Electronic Disease Early Warning Systems  ( eDEWS )  and the oxygen station at Al Thawrah Hospital; support provided to 10 surgical teams, 10 primary health teams and 12 emergency mobile teams; support provided to 14 stabilization centres/therapeutic feeding centres  ( SC/TFC ) ; operating costs of seven ambulances funded; incentives paid for 64 staff at Al Thawra Hospital; 97 specialists provided to support surgical capacity in Al Hudaydah; medicines and medical supplies provided to health centres; severe acute malnutrition  ( SAM )  kits provided to TFCs; polio campaign in the Al Hudaydah City completed and preparations undertaken for outreach immunization; fuel provided for cold chain houses; health activities supported through 58 mobile teams; operational costs of 389 health facilities supported; cholera running costs funded in 39 ORCs in Al Mahweet and 5 DTCs in Al Hudaydah, and costs of cholera preparedness provided in Hajjah Governorate.
IBB HUB According to the Protection Cluster, hostilities continued in the main conflict areas on the western and eastern outskirts of the Taizz City, in Maqbanah in the northwest, and in the southeastern border districts of Hayfan and Al Silw. In Damt District, on the eastern side of Ibb Governorate, armed clashes continued reportedly causing the displacement of civilians to various governorates and within Ibb. The clashes in the area since October caused displacement on both sides of the frontline and closed the Sana'a   Al Dhale'e  Aden road. As a result, travel to Sana'a or Aden now requires a long detour via Ibb City. OCHA is following up with the authorities regarding the number of displaced people and humanitarian partners are to conduct an immediate assessment of needs.
Moreover, the collapse of the health system – with severe shortages in medicines, equipment and staff – together with the increasing lack of adequate access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, has led to catastrophic consequences, including the outbreak of diseases such as cholera which is so far suspected to have reached more than a million cases. The International Committee of the Red Cross  ( ICRC ) , the World Health Organization  ( WHO )  and UNICEF are among those to have stated that the cholera outbreak is a direct consequence of more than two years of warfare.
The OHCHR reported that to access basic services in Taiz, such as health care, residents have to take routes mined with explosives and are exposed to the constant risk of shelling, airstrikes and snipers.21 It is also reported that most healthcare facilities have been destroyed or damaged; this has a disproportionate impact on women's health. Without access to reproductive health services, women face an increased risk of life threatening complications, as well as loss of access to family planning, exposing them to unwanted pregnancies in perilous conditions.22 In addition, the siege meant that women had to walk for three to six hours daily in difficult terrain to obtain basic life saving items, including food and medicine, when available.
Focus group discussions carried out by OCHA show that “women report psychological distress due to violence, fear for family members, and fear of arrest or detention, while men report distress due to loss of livelihoods, restricted mobility, and being forced to perform ‘women specific roles'.'40 The change of ‘traditional roles' within the families, with men losing their jobs and remaining at home while women take over breadwinning roles, has increased social tensions and exposed women to domestic violence, with perpetrators being close family members, including fathers, brothers and husbands and extended family members.41 In addition, although rape is criminalised in Yemen, national legislation does not criminalise marital rape, nor are services provided by the government for survivors of marital rape; this leaves women survivors exposed to long term physical and psychological traumas, and allows perpetrators to go unpunished.
Additionally, Houthis have targeted civilians through ballistic missiles, indiscriminate shelling, snipers and mines.59 They have planted landmines, including anti personnel mines and improvised explosive devices.60 OHCHR has reported that no comprehensive statistics are available on civilian casualties but credible reports from demining experts indicate that the danger is widespread and ongoing.61 A recent government report documented 1,539 cases of death and injuries by mines between 2014 and 2016, with 26 women killed and a further 36 injured.62 OHCHR has also reported that there is no evidence of any precautionary measures being taken to indicate the presence of mines.63