WHO plans major aid delivery during Yemen ceasefire

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Thursday 17 Dec 2015 - 13:36 Makkah mean time-6-3-1437 Geneva, (IINA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) outlined plans on Tuesday to take advantage of the ceasefire in Yemen to distribute medical supplies across the crisis-hit country, France 24 reported. The WHO representative in Yemen Ahmed Shadoul told reporters in Geneva that the UN agency had received assurances from the warring factions that its staff was free to move with the supplies while the ceasefire holds. "We have requested unconditional movement of supplies, personnel, and teams to all parts of the country, and we got the confirmation that this will definitely be granted", Shadoul said. Yemen's healthcare system has been devastated by the conflict pitting pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels. Attacks on health facilities and a lack of vital supplies, especially fuel, have posed major problems, Shadoul stressed that limited access to hard-hit areas has been one of the greatest challenges for health workers. Shadoul said that WHO had prepared "around 19 trucks which will be distributed to different parts of the country, probably to 14 locations". He said that he believed those trucks had already left warehouses in Sana’a and the southern governorate of Aden, noting that a key priority was Taiz in the southwest, where oxygen and trauma kits were due to be dispatched. The operation was on track despite reported breaches in the ceasefire that came into effect earlier on Tuesday, Shadoul said. WHO was also aiming to move some 150 metric tons of material from Djibouti, the delivery of which has been complicated by restrictions on imports imposed by the rival factions. A national polio vaccination campaign has also been scheduled from December 19 to 23, targeting around five million Yemeni children, provided health workers are free to move around. AG/IINA