UNHCR appeals for support

UNHCR may have to readjust programmes and priorities affecting hundreds of thousand of displaced people in Yemen. About 250,000 persons are internally displaced because of the war in Sa’adah. The lack of adequate shelter and provision of non-food items are of particular concern. The shelter’s need have not been met, according to a press release by UNHCR office in Yemen.
 
During a meeting with the Secretary General and the local council in Aden, which included the donors’ delegation from the EU, Canada, Australia and Japan, the two sides discussed the situation of Somali refugees in Yemen and areas in which they could present support for them.
 
Following in the footsteps of the Gulf Ambassadors’ donor mission in October 2009, a mission of traditional donors from the governments of Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom visited Yemen last week with the objective of gaining a firsthand understanding of the humanitarian situation in the country. Without more support, the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of displaced will worsen still further.
 
“I am delighted that this important donor mission came to Yemen, as we are trying to draw UNHCR’s major donors’ attention to the humanitarian situation in the country,” said Claire Bourgeois, the UNHCR Representative in Yemen. “As the government of Yemen does its very best to respond to the humanitarian needs, the support of the international community is of paramount importance at this critical moment.”
 
“Funding is the most crucial issue at the moment,” said Andrew Knight, the Associate Reporting/External Relations Officer at the UNHCR office in Yemen. He added that there are still many security issues that are constraining effort to relocate the IDPs back to Sa’adah. The organization is currently waiting for the government to secure the area. “The majority of the IDPs are not willing to go back,” Knight said, “according to a survey conducted by the UNHCR, and only 9% wishes to go back at the moment.”
 
During their one-week mission, the donors participated in field visits and a series of exchanges with the humanitarian groups, as well as with refugees and other IDPs.

 
The mission culminated with a UNHCR planning workshop, held in conjunction with the Government, other UN agencies and NGO partners. The workshop highlighted the importance of a collaborative approach in planning responses to humanitarian needs.
 
During their mission, the donors undertook fruitful discussions at high-level meetings with the Minister for Parliament, the Chief of the Executive Unit for Internally Displaced Persons, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Chairman of the National Committee on Refugee Affairs and the Deputy Governors of Aden and Hajjah.
 
According to the UNHCR monthly release, 2,673 new arrival refugees arrived on Yemeni coasts in January. There are over 170,000 refugees in Yemen from the horn of Africa.
 
Requesting assistance from all donors within the region and beyond, UNHCR Yemen recently launched an appeal requesting USD 39.1 million dollars to cover the operation’s needs for 2010 in February 2010. Currently, UNHCR remains funded at a little over 18 % of all their needs for the fiscal year.

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