Emergency Workshop and Needs Assessment Taiz December 2011

Read more about the Yemen Unrest here. See photos from the Emergency Workshop in Taiz here. Download a copy of the needs assessment here. Download the report of the HFY workshop in English.

The political unrest in Yemen has led to the exponential increase of humanitarian needs, particularly with regard to food and non-food items, water, and access to basic health care. Internal displacement constitutes some of the country’s primary humanitarian challenges. Prevailing insecurity continues to hinder humanitarian access. Despite the massive need for assistance, most international and national organizations suspended operations in Taiz because of insecurity and insufficient data regarding humanitarian needs and priorities of affected populations and host communities. Civilians continue to face threats to their lives and dignity in Taiz. Moreover, many have lost their livelihoods and the access to food, drinking water, and health services. All these factors increase further the vulnerability of men, women, and children.

Following a workshop led by Humanitarian Forum Yemen and co-hosted with UN OCHA, local organisations pooled together their resources and devised a joint needs assessment.

An initial assessment of the needs of conflict affected populations in Taiz was carried out jointly by Humanitarian Forum Yemen and 17 local organizations in December 2011, supported by OCHA as part of a capacitybuilding exercise for local NGOs. The objective of the assessment was to clarify the actual situation of the affected population in Taiz, in particular their economic conditions, protection, water and sanitation, education and social situation, as well as their basic needs.

Volunteers from 17 local NGOs were briefed in a one day workshop on needs assessments and each received 2 hours coaching and debriefing the following day - no further time was available due to the urgency of carrying out the assessment. Such a short training about international assessment standards and methodology necessarily introduced limitations into the results. Nevertheless, results within shelter/non-food items, education, WASH, and health, aggregated by committed and dedicated local volunteers, show trends, allow for recommendations and further follow-up. The assessment teams visited 4 districts in Taiz:

Be'r Basha and Al-haseb areas in Al- Modafar;
Al-Hamashah and Al-Me'kab areas in Al- Ta'iziah;
Al-Qahirah district;
Shamasy and Al-Thowrah, and Al-Mahwa in Salah district.

KEY FINDINGS

13% of affected households headed by women;4% headed by minors.
48% of affected households found shelter with relatives; 37% live in partially destroyed accommodation.
38% of households connected to a piped water system that is hardly operational with water quality described as “poor” and “muddy”.
48% of household described water-related health problems.
17 out of 20 schools were partially (10) or severely (7) affected by fighting. Additionally, some schools were occupied by armed groups. Schools which had been burned or looted are in need of replacement furniture and teaching materials.
Three quarters of respondents described their protection from the cold as insufficient;
Nearly two-thirds described their personal and property protection as insufficient;
More than two-thirds described their protection from fire as insufficient.
73% reported no food stocks;
25% reported food stocks of less than one month;
2% reported food stocks of more than one month.