ConflictVoice

The scale of the devastation caused by Yemeni and Saudi Arabian aerial bombardments of the northern Yemeni region of Sa’dah has been revealed in hundreds of images obtained by Amnesty International. 

The pictures, given to Amnesty International by an independent source and taken in March 2010 in and around the town of al-Nadir, show buildings destroyed between August 2009 and February 2010 during the latest in a series of clashes between Yemeni forces and supporters of a Shi’a cleric. 

HAJJAH, 22 March 2010 (IRIN) - Up to 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in two camps in northern Yemen are set to benefit from a new water project funded by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and implemented by Oxfam. 

Inaugurated on 19 March to mark World Water Day, the project involves 26 tankers, four reservoirs and a network of pipes in Mazraq camps one and three in Haradh District, Hajjah Governorate. 

SANAA, 17 March 2010 (IRIN) - What mechanisms are in place to ensure that international aid reaches its intended recipients in Yemen rather than corrupt officials? How effective has aid delivery been hitherto? 

These are some of the questions aid workers and analysts have been asking as instability looms in the wake of widespread political turmoil and a faltering economy. 

On the face of it Yemen has significant problems: Dwindling oil revenues; 250,000 internally displaced persons; growing discontent in the south; fears over increased Al-Qaeda activity; stubbornly high youth unemployment and a rapidly growing population; food insecurity; shrinking water resources - and many more. 

SANAA, 23 February 2010 (IRIN) - Hundreds of children have either been killed or used as child soldiers in fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi-led Shia rebels in the north of the country since August 2009, according to a new report by Seyaj Organization for Child Protection (SOCP), a local child rights NGO.

IRIN - SANAA, 31 January 2010 (IRIN) - With the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Yemen having reached 250,000, more than double the number that existed before the current round of fighting between the army and Houthi-led rebels broke out on 12 August 2009, aid workers and local officials have warned of a lack of shelter and basic services for them.

Feel like a tough debate? Take this one on. After working in ten war zones, losing several colleagues in terror bombings, and training stateside in the U.S. Marines, I’ve spent years…

SANAA, 7 January 2010 (IRIN) - The plight of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in tents or deserted houses in the volatile northern Yemeni governorate of Saada and surrounding areas is worsening because of cold winter weather, aid workers and local officials warn.

Though the fears about terrorism internationally are very real, they are not fears that Yemenis themselves necessarily share. Alongside the country’s other problems, al-Qaida and like-minded types are little more than a persistent nuisance. In the meantime, there’s a war in the north with the Shia Houthi rebels that has cost thousands of lives and, in the last few months, has made well over 100,000 homeless.