Yemen - Since November 5th IOM has been assisting the two districts of Taizz city most badly affected by the conflict – Al Qahira and Al Mudhaffar – with water trucking.

Located 250 kilometres south of the capital Sana’a, Taizz is Yemen’s third largest city and has been on the frontline of the conflict in Yemen since August.

Since then fierce clashes between the parties to the conflict have been taking place on a daily basis, and all movements in and out of the city have been limited. Humanitarian partners have been prevented from entering Taizz, imposing a blockade on relief supplies much needed by the affected population.

IOM is working with local youth volunteers to distribute the water, an approach that has proven successful in gaining access to other conflict areas in Yemen, including Aden.

IOM is now trucking 6,500 liters of water a day to three water distribution points in Al Qahira to supply 650 people. It is delivering another 5,500 liters a day to three points in Al Mudhaffar, serving another 550 people.      

In Aden, IOM is supporting the local authorities responsible for water and sanitation by rehabilitating wells that supply the whole of Aden city. Two important elements of the rehabilitation – the repair of 26 submerged water pumps and the repair of the wells’ electrical networks – have already been completed.

The third component, procurement of spare parts to ensure sustainable, ongoing maintenance, has begun. The rehabilitation work will benefit 331,701 individuals throughout the eight districts of Aden Governorate, providing them with water for drinking, washing, and cooking.

Since the start of the conflict, some 188,000 people have benefited from IOM’s water, sanitation and hygiene activities in Aden, Abyan, Dhale'e, Lahj, Shabwa, Al Jawf, Sana'a, and Hadramout.

The operations are funded by the USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, UK DFID and the Humanitarian Pooled Fund.

Compounding the humanitarian suffering caused by the conflict, since the beginning of November two cyclones – Chapala and Megh – have made landfall in Yemen’s southern governorates.

IOM, through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), has identified approximately 5,974 families across 13 districts in the governorates of Socotra, Hadramaut, Shabwah, Abyan, Al Maharah and Lahj, displaced by the storms.

For further information please contact Stefano Pes at IOM Yemen, Tel: +967 7340 00385, Email: spes@iom.int