As the holiday of Eid al-Adha approaches, our thoughts are with tens of
thousands of displaced people in northern Yemen who will not be able to
celebrate Eid in their own homes. The United Nations World Food Programme
and partners such as Islamic Relief and the Adventist Development and
Relief Agency (ADRA) have been working tirelessly to ensure that displaced
Yemenis have access to humanitarian assistance and especially food.
Since the conflict in northern Yemen re-erupted in August, we have
distributed more than 2,000 metric tons of food to more than 100,000 people
across Sa’ada, Hajjah, Amran, and Al Jawf governorates.
While access has been difficult, and thousands of families remain trapped
by the fighting, we have opened up new supply routes, including bringing
assistance across the border from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In this way,
we reached some 10,000 hungry people in the border district of Baqim. A
second convoy to the area is on its way, transporting food assistance for
the increasing numbers of hungry.
We are still worried about the situation in Sa’ada town, which has been
virtually cut off from the rest of the world for more than three months
now, and we are calling for localized humanitarian ceasefires and
humanitarian corridors to allow for safe and uninterrupted access to
families who remain trapped by the conflict so that further displacement
and suffering can be avoided.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
