Emergency Workshop Sana'a June 2011
Background
The political unrest has led to the exponential increase in humanitarian need in Yemen. Safe access to medical care has been severely hampered. Security risks have affected the mobility of medical professionals, and basic health care programmes have been interrupted. The severe shortage of fuel and electricity has intensified the problem.
The fighting across the country has led many to flee major cities, intensifying the issue of internal displacement. The worst hit governorates are those in the south, and in particular the governorate of Aden. The fighting in the city of Abyan has led to over 9,000 people to seek refuge in Aden.
Many international humanitarian organizations have left Yemen, creating a gap in the delivery and coverage of humanitarian assistance.
Workshop
The severity of the humanitarian situation means that planning and implementing effective relief and response operations is a great challenge. Emergency teams are faced with a difficult situation characterised by lack of information, resources and coordination. To meet these challenges, the Humanitarian Forum Yemen designed a one day workshop to develop emergency management skills. The workshop aimed at developing good teamwork, and building a team of teams to focus on the sectors 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 impact of an emergency in the following sectors:
- IDPs (Facilitated by WED and UNHCR)
- Health Care (facilitated by Al Nebras)
- Protection (Facilitated by UNHCR)
Summary and Structure of Workshop
The workshop was attended by 38 organizations, from both local and international NGOs, as well as the private sector.
Raul Rosende, Head of UNOCHA Yemen Office, commenced the workshop by providing a brief update on the humanitarian situation, highlighting the number of causalities and the areas hit worst by the conflict. Main coordination and coordination tools were also presented.
UNHCR representative provided the group with the most update statistics related to IDPs and the main areas UNHCR is delivering assistance. Ferdous Al Douli, chair of Al WD NGO, complemented the presentation by providing a more detailed report on the situation in Abyaan, in south of Yemen. To ensure that participants were also aware that the issue of IDPs existed in Sana'a, the representatives from Al Namaa Network highlighted the current and ongoing conflict between Al Arhab tribe and the military. The Arhab tribe reside in the Arhab town, on the outskirts of Sana'a. Lack of access to the town, absence of local NGOs and information has made the delivery of humanitarian response to this area challenging.
Following the presentations, the participants were divided into three parallel groups to discuss each sector in greater detail, define needs and draft coordinated emergency plans.
Group 1: IDPs in Al Arhab town (chaired by Al Namaa)
Since the outbreak of conflict, the number of IDPs has increased significantly. However to draw focus, the group decided to discuss the situation in Al Arhab town. The group focused on the general needs of IDPs, existing structures to coordinate assistance, as well as safe access to the town. Insufficient information and absence of a local structure in the town (such as CBOs/grassroots organizations) increased the challenge associated with defining needs and delivering assistance. Al Namaa has recently established links with local council groups that can.
The participants nominated a small team to assess the situation in Al Arhab, and conduct a baseline study. The team would also develop strong relations with the local councils to ensure the safe entry into the town. Based on the findings of the team, an emergency plan will be drafted and circulated to the group. The group will then meet to discuss the plan, as well as their potential contribution and assistance.
Group 2: Health Care in Mansoura, Aden (chaired by Al Nebras and the Global Fund to fight Malaria):
As mentioned, safe access to basic health care has become increasingly difficult. With the fighting intensifying in the south of the country, the group decided to focus on a particular town in Aden (namely Al Manoura). The health problems in this area were discussed in detail. The group pointed out that the issue of security together with the irregularity of hospital staff members reporting to duty implied that access to basic health care had been interrupted. In these circumstances, women and children are the worst affected. As a result, it was agreed that first aid kits, as well as insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs) could be provided. Similarly to the first group, a team was nominated to conduct a needs assessment and report back to the group with a detailed emergency plan.
Group 3: Protection (chaired by UNHCR)
The third group discussed the issue of protection, highlighting the different programmes and activities delivered. As the discussion continued, it was clear that organizations understanding of protection varied and therefore the delivery of programmes under this umbrella differed significantly. It was agreed that UNHCR would conduct a small roundtable discussion to help standardize the definition of the concept to ensure that increased cooperation and coordination could materialise among local NGOs.
General Outcomes:
- The workshop led to the creation of two emergency teams, who have agreed a coordination and communication mechanism. Each team agreed to conduct needs assessments and draw-up an emergency response plan to be approved and delivered by the team.
- The discussion related to protection illustrated that a standardised understanding of the concept of protection was absent. It was agreed that UNHCR would conduct a small workshop to highlight the main and programmes associated with the
- Al Namaa and WD organizations have conducted needs assessment and baseline surveys. The reports will be circulated to all participants.
- UNOCHA and HFY will look into replicating the emergency workshop in Aden.
