KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) continued to return home in southern Yemen during November. The U.N. reported that more than 80,000 IDPs—including 39,000 outside the formal returns process—returned to Abyan Governorate between July and late November, a significant increase from the 21,000 IDPs who had reportedly returned by the end of September. Returns to Lahij and other southern governorates also increased. With the rise in returns, humanitarian organizations have expressed concern regarding the absence of strong law enforcement in some areas of return. Relief agencies have also highlighted the lack of services, risk from landmines and other explosives, damage to property and infrastructure, and shortage of livelihoods opportunities throughout communities to which IDPs are returning.
In mid-December, the U.N. plans to release the 2013 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP), which focuses on saving lives, increasing resilience, protecting civilians, and implementing joint programming among humanitarian and development agencies. The U.N. expects the funding request for the 2013 YHRP to substantially exceed the $585 million requested under the 2012 YHRP, which is 56 percent funded to date. The increase is a result of several factors, including rising food assistance needs, repeated disease outbreaks, damaged infrastructure, and early recovery requirements, among others.
The United States Government (USG) continues to support activities that address the needs of IDPs, refugees, and other vulnerable individuals throughout Yemen. USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) supports nearly $30 million in ongoing humanitarian interventions funded in FY 2012, more than half of which are in the nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sectors. USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided more than $70 million in food assistance in FY 2012, and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM) supports approximately $20 million in ongoing FY 2012 health, livelihoods, protection, shelter, and WASH interventions in Yemen.