Yemen – Emergency Water Sanitation Hygiene and Protection - Oxfam-Québec 2016

March 2016 - The humanitarian situation in Yemen has deteriorated dramatically since the conflict intensified in late March 2015. Deepening insecurity and violence have taken a heavy toll on civilian lives and have triggered large-scale internal displacement and cross border population movements. Humanitarian partners now estimate that 21.2 million people or 82 per cent of the population require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights. It is also estimated that 14.4 million people are food insecure including 7.6 million severely food insecure; 19.3 million people lack adequate access to clean water or sanitation; 14.1 million people lack sufficient access to healthcare; 3 million children and pregnant or lactating women require malnutrition treatment or preventive services; and 1.8 million children have been out of school since mid-March. Numerous health facilities have stopped functioning due to a lack of fuel supplies and personnel. In addition solid waste removal has come to a halt in several areas and service availability is rapidly contracting due to direct impact of conflict and insufficient resources to pay salaries or maintain services. There are over 2.3 million people who have been displaced in Yemen and an additional 121 000 people who have fled the country mainly to Djibouti Ethiopia Somalia and Sudan. With GAC’s support Oxfam-Québec is providing emergency water sanitation hygiene and protection services awareness for up to 84 000 vulnerable individuals in Southern Yemen. Project activities include: (1) providing safe drinking water; (2) rehabilitating urban water systems; (3) repairing or rehabilitating latrines located in schools and public buildings; (4) distributing hygiene kits; and (5) providing information on protection related services in targeted communities.

The expected immediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to safe drinking water; (2) increased access to sanitation facilities; (3) increased access to hygiene supplies; and (4) increased access to services aimed at protecting the basic rights of crisis-affected people. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crises or acute food insecurity.