Yemen Humanitarian Update Covering 7–17 September 2018 | Issue 27

KEY ISSUES:

• The school year has opened but two million children remain out of school; about 67 per cent of public school teachers have not been paid for nearly two years.
• Fighting escalated around Al-Hudaydah, rendering the main road to Sana ’a inaccessible to humanitarian traffic.
• Clashes have decreased in Taizz city as heavy weapons and fighters are relocated to frontlines outside the city.
• OCHA organised the first UN field mission in several years to Shabwah Governorate and visited Bayhan and Usaylan districts.
• 114 humanitarian partners were active in 320 out of 333 districts in Yemen during July 2018.

CHALLENGES AS SCHOOL YEAR OPENS

The new school year started in September across Yemen, but the education sector faces a myriad of challenges. According to UNICEF, two million children are out of school, compared to 1.6 million before the conflict. Another four million primary school students are at risk of losing access to education, mainly in the northern areas, because about 67 per cent of public school teachers have not been paid for nearly two years.

According to UNICEF, the quality of education in Yemen is at stake given that children are missing some lessons due to the absence of their teachers or damage to schools. More than 2,500 schools are out of use; 66 per cent of them damaged by conflict, 27 per cent closed and seven per cent used by armed groups or as shelters by displaced people.

Children who are out of schools face additional risks.
Over 2,635 children, all boys, have been recruited and used by armed forces and armed groups. A 2016 survey in six governorates found that close to three-quarters of girls were married before the age of 18 and 44.5 per cent under the age of 15 years.

SITUATION IN AL HUDAYDAH GOVERNORATE

Fighting has escalated in the eastern and southern areas of Al Hudaydah city, rendering the main road to the capital, Sana’a, inaccessible to humanitarian partners. Civilian casualties have been reported and infrastructure has been damaged. Fighting was also reported in the districts of Bait al Faqih, and At-Tuhayat, particularly in the Al Jah and Jabaliya areas, and in Hays.

Ongoing clashes have pushed up commodity and fuel prices, with fuel selling at between 10,000 and 12,000 YER for 20 litres, up from 8,500 YER a few weeks ago. The exchange rate has increased to around 600 YER to the USD. The deteriorating economic situation has aggravated the hardship faced by residents of Al Hudaydah.

The humanitarian community has scaled up its response to meet the needs of people recently displaced from Al Hudaydah. As of 15 September, more than 73,500 displaced households had been registered in the Aden,
Al Hudaydah, Sana’a, Ibb and Sa’ada hubs, of whom nearly 70,000 of them had received rapid response assistance and non-food items.

IOM distributed food baskets to 330 newly displaced families in Al Zaydyia District and provided 7,000 hot meals to IDPs hosted in six schools in Al Hudaydah city and three schools in Al Marwa’iah. WFP started the distribution of blanket food baskets in Al Hudaydah city and as of 15 September, had assisted 3,664 households out of a target of 40,000 households. A local partner completed the distribution of food rations to 652 households in At Tuhayat, an area of ongoing clashes.
Al Hudaydah and Saleef seaports remain open and operational.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-update-covering-7-17-september-2018-issue-27