The situation in Yemen continued to deteriorate countrywide throughout 2018, making Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The armed conflict escalated across multiple frontlines in the northern parts of the country with the Saudi-led Coalition’s (SLC) intent to advance up the western coastline and capture the strategic port city of Hudaydah. The situation worsened when the armed clashes expanded and reached the Hudaydah international airport, cutting off main routes, and isolating the city from the east. Hudaydah is the major port for north Yemen, via which 70% of the nation’s vital imports transit.
As a consequence of these developments and the Government of Yemen’s (GoY) limited economic and monetary policy, the Yemeni Riyal continued to lose value against the US dollar. This series of challenges eventually resulted in a significant loss of purchasing power for most people as prices of basic goods (food, fuel, water) and services hiked. Security-wise, with the advance of the conflict towards the outskirts of Hudaydah city, an outflow of over 600,000 IDPs moved towards central and southern governorates. While the UN and other humanitarian agencies reduced their operation and presence to adapt to this new development, Aden Hub had to face the task of covering for an even larger geographical area. The operation was stretched to intervene with the new IDPs along the west coast and the south of Taizz in the face of resource limitations, following the Hub re-alignment. By the end of 2018, the UN was able to mediate an agreement between the warring parties, which led to an agreement on Hudaydah that resulted in a ceasefire and halted the advance of the SLC-backed forces to the outskirts of the city. For this agreement to materialize, the UN deployed a team of observers and continued efforts to stabilize the situation despite the existing challenges. The cholera epidemic and diphtheria outbreak continued to be amongst the most serious challenges faced by the Yemeni people, especially with less than half of the health facilities countrywide functioning. In the South, due to the ongoing conflict, the lack of clarity on the government counterparts responsible for the coordination of humanitarian assistance remained a serious obstacle. However, UNHCR was able to lead the response in close collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), line ministries, and specialized entities such as the Executive Unit (ExU) and High Relief Committee. UNHCR and the UNHCR-led- Clusters remained agile and continued to respond to the emergencies swiftly. As the lead agency for the shelter/NFI Clusters UNHCR often played the role of provider of last resort. The coordination with Coalition partners constitutes a further challenge, with since shipment of goods subjected to detailed verification by the Coalition and all movements to the west coast require EHOC clearance. In the South, Aden port was used as the main port of entry and functioned well, given its capacity. UNHCR was able to receive humanitarian goods promptly to support interventions in the south. In the North, the operating environment deteriorated markedly in the second half of the year. The de facto authorities (DFA) increasingly hindered humanitarian operations and imposed increasing restrictions on the operation, some infringing upon the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and operational independence. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC), the mutual accountability framework with a specific focus on Hudaydah was developed to ease operational tensions and demarcate operational parameters. Protection operations remained constrained due to the DFA’s perception that Protection is not a priority. This standpoint led to serious challenges and refusal of permission to conduct activities or programmes related to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). MoFA Sana’a maintained its firm stance regarding UNHCR’s protection mandate for refugees. The conclusion of the data-sharing agreement in early 2018 and the resumption of registration and renewal activities later the same year were pivotal points in UNHCR’s operations. However, by the year’s end, no new asylum-seeker certificates had been issued, despite UNHCR having provided all necessary equipment and repeated advocacy.
In Aden, permissible environment for refugees and the Government support to UNHCR were key in enabling UNHCR to provide much-needed protection services. Immigration Passport Naturalisation Authority (IPNA) continued to register and document prima facie refugees from Somalia, while UNHCR registered and documented non-Somali asylum-seekers. The authorities have a good understanding of UNHCR’s protection mandate, while UNHCR was determined to maintain close relationships with various line ministries. These efforts allowed the office to conduct Protection monitoring for PoCs and provide protection services without noted hindrances.