danishdemininggroup.dk: Danish Refugee Council in Yemen: Meeting new challenges in a time of unrest

Danish Refugee Council in Yemen: Meeting new challenges in a time of unrest

30.09.11

Recent insurgency and civil unrest in Yemen has required the Danish Refugee Council to reassess its operations. Despite widespread instability the organisation has managed to increase activities in southern Yemen.

Clashes between pro-regime forces and opposition groups in Yemen’s capital Sana’a and other main cities haveclaimed the lives of hundredsover the past months, leading to growing instability in the country. The Danish Refugee Council, one of the international aid agencies working in Yemen, has decided to stay despite the unrest and violence.

With insecurity forcing the organisation to scale down some activities and relocate staff members from the north, work has increasedin the southern areas of Yemen.The Danish Refugee Council is committed to maintaining its core assistance programmes while addressing emerging humanitarian needs.

- Responding to the ongoing fighting in the south of Yemen, we have decided to redirect some resources from relief projects in the north, and are now requesting additional funding support, to meet immediate and urgent needs of thousands of families displaced by the violence. These activities are not yet affected by the current insecurity, says Peter Klansoe, the Danish Refugee Council’s regional director for the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

The Danish Refugee Council has been working in support of refugee, migrant and internally displaced populations in the Republic of Yemen since 2008.The organisation works in support of refugees and illegal migrants mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia, and for local communities affected by internal conflict.
Yemen currently hosts an estimated 200,000 refugees and has a local population displaced by conflict estimated at over 300,000. Of the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who arrive each year, many remain in Yemen by choice or circumstance.

Over recent months, the Danish Refugee Council has expanded and restructured its assistance programme to help meet the needs of at least 70,000 recently displaced individuals, primarily from Abyan Governorate in south Yemen. There sustained fighting between government forces and Islamic militants has been taking place over many months.

Current and planned activities in south Yemen include distributions of household assistance packages to internally displaced persons and for host families, provision of small cash grants, community-based cash-for-work activities, profiling of the internally displaced, as well as child protection monitoring. These activities are carried out with the financial support from UN agencies and ECHO.

The Danish Refugee Council strives to actively developing new projects and seeking additional donor support. Future activities in the south will continue to address the most urgent needs of internally displaced families while preparing for their informed and voluntary return, as soon as this might become possible.

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