The first three months of 2009 were relatively calm, despite reports of sporadic tribal clashes and other confrontations in several parts of the country. In March, the situation became rather tense after two suicide bombers killed several and left others injured.

Though more than six months have passed since the last round of conflict in the north of the country, access to such basic services as safe drinking water, shelter and medical care is still inadequate. While thousands have benefited from ICRC assistance in Sa'ada over the past months, many others are still without proper shelter or adequate access to water, food and health care.

ICRC water engineers have been helping restore the water supply in the areas of Sa'ada, Dahyan and the Marran, which were particularly hard-hit by the conflict last year. The ICRC is using trucks to make daily water deliveries to 6,500 people in four IDP camps in Sa'ada, helping to prevent water-borne disease.
The country has had a chronic water shortage for decades. The annual rainfall cannot compensate for domestic and agricultural consumption. As a result, the available underground reserves are shrinking. "Yemen has one of the lowest ratios of water to inhabitants in the world, and the situation is worsening by the day. The water table is dropping by between one and seven metres per year. The population was already vulnerable, and the effects of the conflict in the north on water supply systems are rendering the problem dramatic," said Andres Casal, the ICRC's water engineer in Sa’ada.
To respond to the most urgent needs, the ICRC maintained its humanitarian activities, especially in the north of the country, and stepped up its presence in Amran governorate. However, the security situation has often prevented ICRC staff from reaching those in need.
"We are taking all possible precautions to ensure that our staff can continue to carry out their humanitarian field activities safely,” explained Jean-Nicolas Marti, the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen. "However, it is difficult to say how the situation will evolve. A deterioration in the security situation may force us to limit our movements to certain parts of the country, at least temporarily slowing down the provision of humanitarian assistance to some very vulnerable populations.”
The ICRC is also visiting detainees, restoring links between refugees and their families abroad, helping women in prisons, providing material support to foreign nationals prior to deportation and supporting the physical rehabilitation of amputees.

Supplying clean water
Refurbishing destroyed or damaged water facilities for people in Sa'ada and surrounding areas remains vital. Internally displaced persons in camps, for instance, depend on the water the ICRC has been delivering every day since mid-2008, and whether they can return home largely depends on whether they have a regular supply of safe water.
As of February 2009, ICRC water engineers in Sa'ada:

• had completed the construction of ten septic tanks to serve more than 6,500 displaced persons in four camps in Sa'ada city;
• were supplying 144 cubic metres of drinking water per day;
• were building a 200 cubic metre water tank;
• had followed up on repairs to a water network damaged by the fighting in Dahyan town (northwest of Sa'ada city), extending it from the 12 km initially planned to 16 km in order to make access to water easier and safer for some 20,000 inhabitants;
• were running similar projects for some 27,400 people in the villages of Al-Areda, Al Humeidan, Al-Sari, Al-Mazroh, Hajarat Fallah, Khamis Marran, Sudan (Sa'ada governorate) and Al-Harf (Amran governorate);
• had renovated three health-care facilities in Sudan, Khamis Marran (Sa'ada governorate) and the town of Al-Harf (Amran governorate), plus the physical rehabilitation centre of Al-Jumhaury Hospital in Sa'ada city;
• had built four pits for the incineration of medical waste close to the mobile clinics of the IDP camps in Sa'ada

Supporting health-care facilities
Several basic health facilities have been abandoned In Sa'ada and the surrounding areas because of a lack of medicine. Others have been destroyed, and those that still exist often lack the necessary materials and medicines.
Currently, the ICRC is supporting nine health-care facilities, four of which are located in the camps, in cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS) and the Ministry of Health and Population.
In January and February, the ICRC:

• renovated a healthcare unit in the Marran Mountains, south of Sa'ada city, with the help of a health team based in Sa'ada, and provided medical supplies;
• ran a training session for health workers from the Marran Mountain facility;
• carried out regular visits to the Marran Mountain facility to support staff in their work;
• provided basic medical supplies for the nine health-care units in Sa’ada governorate, covering the needs of around 29,000 residents and displaced persons. These healthcare units provided more than 11,000 consultations, including some 2,500 to children under five.
• donated medical supplies to Sa'ada town's main hospital, which is covering a population of approximately 38,000;
• helped transport and cover the treatment costs of more than 130 patients who were referred to private and government hospitals;
• organized health education sessions for women and children living in the camps, to raise awareness of certain diseases.

Food and other essentials for conflict-affected people in Sa'ada Governorate
From January to the beginning of March 2009, almost 36,000 people received dry food rations and more than 7,600 benefited from distributions of essential household items.
The ICRC and the YRCS continued to assess the needs of the people in the districts of Sa'ada Governorate that are most affected by the fighting, in particular in Haydan, Dahyan, Majz, Sahar and Al-Safra districts.
Aid for people in Amran governorate
Between January and March, the ICRC:

• organized the distribution of food – rice, flour, beans, sugar, salt and oil – and essential household items – blankets, mattresses, cooking stoves, kitchen sets and tarpaulins – to some 15,000 people;
• continued to supply basic medicines to a health-care unit renovated over three months previously in Al-Harf (in the east of the governorate), which is now fully functional and receives an average of 100 patients per day.

Physical rehabilitation programme

A large number of people are in need of physical rehabilitation, and the long distances and dangers on the roads have made it difficult for patients to reach Sana'a for treatment. To ensure that this service is available to as many people as possible, the ICRC opened a physical rehabilitation clinic in Sa'ada city's Al-Jumhouri Hospital. The clinic has been fully functional since January. The ICRC also continues to provide its expertise to three other centres in Yemen; one in the capital Sana'a, one in Mukalla and one in Aden.

In January and February, over 1,000 patients at these four centres underwent physical rehabilitation and between them received over 160 prostheses and 600 orthoses.

Detainees and refugees
It is expected that the inmates of Guantanamo Bay will be released during the year, but in the meantime the ICRC provides their only means of staying in touch with their families. In March, an ICRC delegate based in Sana'a carried out his first round of visits this year to Yemeni nationals held at this US facility.

• Some 440 Red Cross messages (containing brief family news) were exchanged between detainees in Guantanamo Bay and their families in Yemen.
• The ICRC continued to arrange telephone calls between Yemeni nationals held in Guantanamo Bay or Afghanistan and their families in Yemen. Some 30 families spoke with their detained relatives through the ICRC delegation in Sana'a.
• Families in Yemen and their detained relatives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon exchanged some 120 Red Cross messages.
• Over 200 people awaiting deportation continued to receive food, hygiene items and basic health-care items.
• During these three months, refugees from the Horn of Africa exchanged more than 1,000 Red Cross messages with their families in Yemen.
• The ICRC succeeded in tracing another 14 missing persons and restoring contact between them and their families.
• The ICRC continued to work with the Yemen Red Crescent Society to develop the reading, writing, sewing and embroidery skills of between 200 and 300 women held in 10 prisons in the country.

Promoting international humanitarian law
It is important for the ICRC to raise awareness of international humanitarian law and of the organization itself. This awareness is essential if the ICRC is to work in safety and to reach what are often very vulnerable groups.
In the first three months of 2009, the ICRC gave three general presentations in Sana'a to over 1,100 members of the police force, and two sessions in Sa'ada to some 50 personnel from the governor's office.
The ICRC also continued to work with institutions that require a more in-depth knowledge of IHL. In January, the ICRC held its sixth annual meeting with eight Yemeni faculties of law that teach IHL. The ICRC also ran a three-day workshop for some 30 new judges from the Higher Judicial Institute in Sana'a, to familiarize them with the treaties and conventions that make up IHL and with the development of this branch of law in recent decades.
The ICRC has been working in Yemen since 1962. The number of personnel has increased since December last year. There are currently 95 staff based in the country – 52 in the capital Sana'a (including 13 expatriates), and 43 in Sa'ada (including 6 expatriates).