Emergency Workshop Aden July 2011

Background:

As the humanitarian situation in the south of Yemen continues to deteriorate and the number of displaced people increases at an exponential rate, the Humanitarian Forum Yemen together with UNOCHA organized a second workshop on emergency response in Aden. With the fighting intensifying in the southern governorates and the number of IDPS reaching a record high of 60,847, the emergency response workshop was considered timely.

Overview:

The workshop aimed at developing good teamwork, and building a team of teams to focus on the areas that require the most immediate attention. The idea was to bring multiple groups of people that come together from different organizations with different goals to reduce the suffering of IDPs in the South. To focus the discussion, the three most critical sites were selected, namely Abyaan, Lahj, and Aden.

The workshop was attended by over 40 participants, representing local organizations from each of these cities, as well as local authorities, and international organizations, such as WFP, UNHCR, IOM, Care, ADRA, and Save the Children. 

Summary and Structure of Workshop

The Deputy Governor of Aden commenced the workshop by welcoming the participants and representatives of local and international organizations. He thanked the participants for their support for the IDPs in Abyaan, Lahj and Aden, commenting that the Governorate would extend its assistance to ensure that relief efforts could be delivered efficiently.

To ensure all participants were update with the current situation, representatives of the UNHCR described the situation of IDPs across Yemen. This was followed by presentations regarding the numbers and location of IDPs in the three individual cities. Al Hayah Charity provided a situation report on the refugees in Abyaan, representatives from the red cross red crescent committee together with officials from the government health's department provided an overview of the situation in Lahj, and the operational unit for IDPs described the situation in Aden.

Following the presentations, the participants were divided into three parallel groups to discuss each city in greater detail, define needs and draft coordinated emergency plans and projects.

Group 1: IDPs in Aden:

The group agreed that the immediate needs of the IDPs in Aden are related to: protection, health and emergency assistance.

On the issue of protection, the group discussed the need to support and advocate the return of IDPs to Abyaan, assist in rehabilitation efforts, increase international and local awareness of the situation in Aden, ensure safely of camps, and provide psychological support.

The group discussed projects/activities, which would put these ideas into practise. The small group estimated costs of projects and assigning individual task forces to implement these. Workshops, media coverage, introduction of camp patrols, and discussion with human rights lawyers and organizations were among the principal activities discussed.

With regards to health, the group agreed that the general health of IDPs should be made a priority. Prevention of infectious diseases, as well as the address of chronic and surgical cases is necessary. Among the main activities discussed were the provision of clean drinking water and sanitation, supply of medical staff and medical equipment, and first aid training for refugees.

For the address of emergency needs, food parcels, as well as clothes, cooking utensils, sheets, blankets, water canisters, and lanterns were prioritized by the group. To ensure the safe distribution of packages requires support from local authorities, NGOs, as well as volunteers.

Group 2: IDPs in Lahj

Similarly to the first group, participants structured their debate around: protection, health and emergency needs of IDPs in Lahj.

With regards to the emergency assistance, the group discussed the need to provide food packages and clothes to over 2800 families. The group highlighted the need to work together to meet this ambitious target, especially before the start of Ramadan. Representatives discussed the individual contributions that could be made by their organizations, and proposed a plan of action.

In relation to health, participants agreed that the target beneficiaries are in the region of 1500 families.  The principal needs included the surgeries, health kits, health awareness campaigns and distribution of medical assistance for chronic illnesses. Given the capacity of the group, assistance to 700 people could be met, making the need for funding imperative.

Protection of children was made the priority by the group. Securing safe spaces for children, provision of psychosocial assistance, and distribution of child protection guidelines and information featured the main activities the group put forward. 

Group 3: Situation in Abyaan:

Abyaan Governorate is divided into nine districts. Members of this group distributed the districts amongst them to discuss the possible activities that could be implemented in each. To establish the needs in each district, it was agreed that joint needs assessments had to be carried out.

With regards to health for example the group discussed the need to establish health care units and ensure that local health care clinics are re-opened. Provision of food and safe drinking water also made a priority by the members of this group. They identified the individual items that each organization could provide, and identified international partners that were required to fill either technical or operational gaps. 

Outcomes:

At the end of the workshop, each group had nominated a group leader to monitor and follow-up on the proposals and activities discussed the workshop.  In plenary, the group agreed the following:

  • Partnerships between organizations are necessary to ensure greater outreach and distribution of humanitarian assistance. Partnerships are to be operationalised throughout the implementation of joint projects/activities.
  • Search for joint funding must be made a priority. The group agreed that partial funding would be sufficient to start putting their ideas into practice.
  • Greater opportunities of discussion with international organizations must be created. Since local organizations are among the first entities to operate on the field and are closest to the victims, it is important that greater communication with INGOs is made to ensure more coordinated efforts can be designed.
  • The group leaders are responsible for the follow up of the activities and plans agreed by the individual groups.

See more photos from this workshop on our Flickr stream. We would like to apologise for the quality of the images. Find out more about the Yemen unrest and our work in Yemen.