Middle East & North Africa
Yemen: UN says more than 281,000 displaced since August, with Taiz aid routes cut and a hospital and ambulance hit
OCHA reports more than 281,000 people displaced in Yemen since early August, over half in Ta'iz, as a damaged road forces aid onto mountain tracks and health facilities come under fire.
More than 281,000 people in Yemen have been displaced since the start of August, more than half of them sheltering in Ta’iz governorate, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said in its daily news summary published on 29 October. The new figure is up from the more than 250,000 reported in our earlier report on the Yemen displacement.
OCHA says humanitarian access has become increasingly difficult over the past three weeks. Damage to a key road linking Ta’iz to the southern governorates has forced aid supplies onto narrow mountain routes.
Hospital and ambulance hit
According to OCHA, health services are under attack and increasingly stretched. On 20 October a hospital in the Sabir Al-Mawadim district of Ta’iz was hit by mortar fragments for the second time that month. An ambulance was struck by a projectile, killing its driver and a paramedic. In Ta’iz City, movement restrictions have forced community midwives to stop working. In Marib governorate, only six of 31 mobile medical teams remain operational and 15 health facilities have stopped functioning altogether.
Shelter, water and risks for women and girls
OCHA reports that three-quarters of those displaced are living in sites where shelter, clean water and sanitation are in short supply. More than 35,000 families still lack shelter assistance, and more than 230,000 people need emergency water and sanitation support. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warns of sexual violence, trafficking and forced marriage, particularly in overcrowded sites without adequate privacy, lighting or separate sanitation facilities.
The agency said humanitarian partners are responding wherever access permits. Earlier, the World Food Programme warned that the fighting had cut aid to about 800,000 people, as Geopolitiki reported in Yemen: WFP says fighting has cut aid to 800,000 people, most of them in Taiz.
The OCHA summary describes the situation and the needs. It does not assign responsibility for individual incidents, and the figures are the agency’s own estimates as of the date of publication, so they may change as displacement tracking is updated.
