Supporter: Dan Sadowsky

Mercy Corps has deployed two emergency specialists to Yemen to evaluate ways in which the agency can help the growing number of families there displaced by conflict.

Veteran aid workers Richard Jaquot and Mugur Dumitrache are assessing the possibility of helping supply water, provide work opportunities, and support the psychosocial needs of impacted communities, particularly women and children. They’ll also help train our current staff in humanitarian response.

Approximately 400,000 people have been displaced in the north and the south. Other families who remain in their homes face significant challenges due to the massive unrest, including loss of livelihood, power outages, fuel shortages and a food crisis. Food prices have risen 15-20% in recent months.

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As Yemen continues to grapple with political turmoil and multiple conflicts, Mercy Corps is hoping that engaging youth in their communities can help the country realize a brighter future.

Our biggest program there is called Engaging Youth for Stable Yemen. It's a conflict-mitigation program that brings youth together and builds their capacity to create positive change by teaching them life skills, job skills, and helping them participate in community service.

I recently spoke to Rafael Velasquez Garcia, who manages the program out of our office in Aden:

Our Engaging Youth for Stable Yemen program brings youth together and builds their capacity to create positive change by teaching them life skills, job skills, and helping them participate in community service. Photo: Mercy Corps

We hear a lot about the political turmoil in Yemen. What is life like there these days?

Rafael: The situation in Yemen has been deteriorating over a long period of time. Even before the recent political turmoil and demonstrations, Yemen was facing a number of difficulties: it's the poorest Arab country in the region and disproportionate number of young people. By some estimates, close to 60 percent of the population is under the age of 30.

Since the protests began earlier this year, more than 100,000 people have been displaced nationwide. We've also experienced fuel shortages, electricity blackouts, as well as exponential increases in the prices of daily household commodities.

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Here is the latest update from one of our emergency staff members in Mogadishu:

Our staff in Mogadishu registered 25 newly arrived households from famine-affected regions of Bay and Bakol in the last ten days. These families had walked for more than three weeks to reach Mogadishu, with the hope that they will get something to eat and live on.

Registering new arrivals in Mogadishu. Photo: Mercy Corps

Eight days after they arrived, they had not received any food or other support. Mercy Corps gave these families cash grants of $50. They were among 500 families who received the grants.

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Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Although the crisis in Africa's Horn has fallen off the front pages, the situation "continues to deteriorate," according to the latest UN report. Cholera, measles and malaria are on the rise. Food prices have shot up, livestock are withering, and water is scarce.

Here's the latest update on our lifesaving response:

Somalia: Today we made the first of daily deliveries of clean drinking water to a displacement camp in Mogadishu. It's home to tens of thousands of people who've flocked to Somalia's capital seeking refuge from the drought.

Ethiopia: Seven mobile health teams in the hard-hit Somali region continue to provide vaccinations, medical check-ups and fortified food to pregnant women and children under five. We're also trucking water to remote communities along the Somalia border, and helping herders sell their weakened animals to meet urgent needs.

Kenya: We're reaching nearly 200,000 with clean drinking water, trucking it to several dozen villages in drought-stricken Wajir County.

Our teams in all three countries are working around the clock to help families survive. Forecasters are now predicting less-than-average rainfall in October, which would only prolong the current crisis -- and the recovery.

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We now have a five-person response team in Tripoli, visiting hospitals, assessing general humanitarian needs and meeting with other emergency relief groups such as the Libyan Red Crescent.

Initial reports of humanitarian needs in the Libyan capital indicate that hospitals are stretched to capacity, and water, food and fuel are in short supply.

Meanwhile, we're preparing to provide post-trauma assistance to 5,000 children in Libya through two programs:

• Comfort for Kids focuses on training non-mental health professionals to help children recover from the emotional effects of a large-scale disaster.
• Moving Forward uses sports and games to promote resilience, teamwork, self-esteem and constructive communication to crisis-affected kids, and targets children and young people aged 10-19.

Read more about the program in today's edition of The Scotsman, the hometown newspaper of our UK headquarters.

Also, next month we'll open a Civil Society Resource Center in Benghazi in response to community desires for the support and training of community service organizations in a new Libya.

Stay tuned for further updates.

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