Yemen: Protection Cluster Update (March 2019)
SITUATION OVERVIEW
While progress on redeployment in al-Hudaydah remains fragile following the Stockholm Agreement, the conflict continues to exact its brutal toll on civilians, particularly following escalation in recent months in the neighboring governorate of Hajjah.
Indiscriminate attacks, whether due to airstrikes or shelling, and increasingly landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs), continue to pose a major threat to civilians. In this context, ensuring protection of civilians remains paramount, as does addressing the growing protection needs for the conflict-affected and displaced population of Yemen.
Protection of Civilians As released in the 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen, civilian casualties verified by OHCHR have increased 11% year-on-year, while 56% of districts in Yemen were affected by airstrikes, shelling or armed clashes in 2018. The worstaffected 10% of districts experienced these almost every day, notably in Sa’ada and al-Hudaydah. The Protection Cluster’s Civilian Impact Monitoring Project released its annual report for 20181, among which some of the key findings are:
- Nearly 100 civilian casualties each week in Yemen in 2018
- 95 mass casualty incidents (4% of total incidents) caused 44% of all civilian casualties
- 60% of mass casualty incidents were airstrikes
- More than half of all civilian impact incidents affected women and children, including 7% impacting children alone and 3% women alone
- Landmines and UXOs were the deadliest form of armed violence (in terms of casualties per incident), deadlier than airstrikes or shelling
- More civilians were killed and injured inside their own homes than anywhere else
- After homes, being in cars or buses were the most common location for civilian casualties
- More than 100 conflict incidents directly impacted health, education, food, water and aid sites
In the first three months of 2019, estimated civilian casualties have decreased by 30% compared to the monthly average in 2018, mainly due to developments in al-Hudaydah and Sa’ada governorates, while Taizz, Hajjah, Amran and Shabwah all saw increases in civilian casualties.
Internal Displacement
Internal displacement has increased and, according to the most recent assessment of the Task Force on Population Movement, there were more than 3.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 1.3 million IDP returnees in Yemen as of November 2018.2 The governorates of Marib (21%), Taizz (11%), Hajjah (10%), Hudaydah (10%), Amran (7%) and Amanat al Asimah (7%) represented the largest IDP hosting locations. Marib estimates are higher than previously estimated likely due to increased access in the governorate. Over half of displacement occurred in 2015 at the beginning of the conflict, while 2018 represented the highest level of displacement since then (121,678 households), more than double the level of displacement in 2017. While the majority of IDPs live in rented accommodation, 20% are estimated to live in spontaneous settlements, and 4% living in public buildings, schools, hospitals or religious buildings.
Vulnerability and Persons with Specific Needs
Conflict, unabating risk of cholera and populations facing famine-like conditions continue to take their toll, resulting in new vulnerabilities and protection consequences for those who have suffered the loss of heads of households, family separation and the breakdown of community structures. According to the most recent Multi-Cluster Location Assessment conducted at the end of 2018, in 8% of assessed districts, key informants reported that at least ten out of every 100 people had exhibited signs of conflict-related psychosocial distress in the previous twelve months, while the percentage of persons possessing various forms of civil documentation ranged between 13% to 54%, The assessment also identified more than 300,000 children at risk of exploitative work and more than 8,000 survivors of violence, exploitation or abuse.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-protection-cluster-update-march-2019
