UNICEF HEAD SPEAKS OUT AGAINST VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN YEMEN

The head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for "immediate and secure" access to people uprooted by escalating clashes – mostly children and women – between Government forces and rebels in northern Yemen.

"Children cannot be the innocent victims of conflict," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said in a statement issued yesterday, noting that the agency stands ready to assist civilians caught up in the conflict.

The humanitarian situation in camps, she said, is becoming ever more dire due to the lack of basic services, including safe water, sanitation and nutrition.

"Thousands of more families remain trapped inside the conflict zone, unable to reach safer areas," Ms. Veneman added. "They, too, are in urgent need of humanitarian support."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today that insecurity is hindering aid agencies' efforts to reach people affected by the fighting, which could ultimately uproot up to 150,000 people.

Including those displaced by previous violence, some 119,000 people in Sa'ada governorate have fled clashes between Government troops and Al Houthi rebels which are now spreading to the neighbouring Amran governorate.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that the violence has affected 35,000 in the past two weeks alone.

Stepped up fighting in recent days "is worsening what is already a dire and complex humanitarian emergency," agency spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.

"We are especially worried about the situation in Sa'ada city, the provincial capital of Sa'ada governorate," he said, noting that a UNHCR team has reported that there has been no water and electricity there since 10 August.

Additionally, there is a fuel shortage and it is becoming increasingly perilous for people to reach markets to purchase food, Mr. Mahecic said.

Although UNHCR, which last week called on donors for an additional $5 million to respond to the latest emergency, has registered hundreds of newly displaced families, registration has been suspended due to security situation inside the city as well as a curfew.

Along with preparing new aid shipments, the agency is working with local authorities on the construction of a new camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) that could house up to 3,500 people.

According to OCHA, the violence has made it difficult for humanitarian workers to access the uprooted and accurately assess the situation, with the Sa'ada airport having been closed to all non-military activities.

Travel by land from Yemen's capital, Sana'a, has been hampered by roadblocks, with UN agencies having evacuated non-resident staff from Sa'ada on 20 August.

The Ministry of Public Health has pointed to an alarming situation in Sa'ada, which borders Saudi Arabia and is a relatively remote and inaccessible region where many health facilities are currently not functioning.

According to an inter-agency assessment in Haradh, many IDPs were found to be living without shelter or water and are at risk of heat stroke and severe dehydration. Further, cases of diarrhoeal diseases and child malnutrition have been reported.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has airlifted 40 metric tonnes of high energy biscuits, distributing 10 metric tonnes of food aid to 7,000 newly-displaced people in Hajjah governorate. It started delivering a one-month ration of cereals, pulses, vegetable, salt and sugar on 23 August for 10,000 people.

For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) has provided two trauma kits to the Ministry of Public Health, while a mobile health clinic was deployed last week.

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $1.2 million for rapid response measures to provide immediate assistance to 25,000 people displaced by previous fighting in Sa'ada.

A flash appeal, to fund life-saving assistance for up to 150,000 IDPs and other indirectly affected people, is being prepared.
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UN EXTENDS AID TO VICTIMS OF DEADLY NEW VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today ordered United Nations officials to extend all possible assistance to the victims of the latest "heinous" surge of violence in southern Sudan, where 161 people, including 100 women and children, were reported to have been killed yesterday.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban voiced his "extreme concern" at the killing in Akobo in Jonglei state, where 50 men and 11 soldiers from the regional Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) were also killed.

Southern Sudan was the scene of one of Africa's longest and bloodiest civil wars, in which at least 2 million people were killed, 4 million others uprooted and 600,000 more fled across the borders, until a peace agreement in 2005 ended the 20 years of fighting between southern separatists and the national Government in the north. A referendum on independence for the south is expected to be held in 2011, following national elections next year.

More recently, violence has flared periodically from various quarters, with Mr. Ban warning last month that escalating inter-tribal fighting was jeopardizing the stability of the entire country and putting at risk key milestones in implementing the 2005 pact, known as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Attacks by the notorious Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), have also wrought havoc in border regions in the south.

In his statement today condemning the latest violence, Mr. Ban directed the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) "to extend all possible assistance to those affected by this heinous act and work with local authorities to restore calm."

He called on the regional Government of Southern Sudan "to bring to justice those responsible for these events and take the necessary measures to protect civilians across Southern Sudan."
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FRESH HOSTILITIES PUTTING SOMALI WOMEN AND CHILDREN AT RISK, WARNS UNICEF

A new wave of aggression and hostilities against humanitarian operations in Somalia is putting at risk the lives of the strife-torn nation's children and women, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.

The agency cited in particular the take-over and month-long occupation of its compound in the Central Somali town of Jowhar by militiamen after the town came under the control of the Al-Shabaab group last month.

The Jowhar compound is the biggest operational hub for UNICEF's support to about 200 feeding centres, and the subsequent looting and destruction of vital humanitarian items during the attack on 17 May have seriously affected its ability to assist the most vulnerable children and women.

"Perpetrators of these unacceptable and irresponsible actions must understand that their actions have serious consequences on their own children and women, their own communities and people," said Hannan Suleiman, acting UNICEF Representative to Somalia.

"We are talking about over a million children under five years of age. We're talking about 40,000 children under three years old who are malnourished that will not be provided with feeding products. We are talking about over 700,000 women that will not be provided with tetanus shots, vaccinations and other services," she said in an interview with UN Radio.

UNICEF is demanding that its facilities in Jowhar town be vacated by the militiamen and that all of its looted supplies and equipment be returned.

Fighting broke out in early May between Government troops and the opposition Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups, driving around 100,000 people from their homes in the capital, Mogadishu.

In a related development, the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned an attack in Mogadishu that left one journalist dead and another seriously injured.

Two unidentified men opened fire on Muktar Mohamed Hirabe, the director of Radio Shabelle, and Ahmed Omar Hashi, Radio Shabelle's news editor, as they were walking in Bakara Market on 7 June.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said the killing of Mr. Hirabe and the wounding of Mr. Hashi constitute "an intolerable breach" of the basic human right of freedom of expression and of citizens' right to be informed.

"It is essential for the return of peace and democracy to Somalia that those in positions of authority do all they can to end these unacceptable attacks on media personnel. It is also essential that measures be taken to punish the culprits of these crimes," he stated.

The 48-year-old radio director is the fifth journalist assassinated in Somalia this year, according to UNESCO.
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