ICRC Commends Improvement Of Situation In Yemen But Still Faces Aid Delivery Problems

Even though the situation in Yemen has improved lately, the international organizations still experience road blockages which hamper the deliveries of humanitarian relief to the local population, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Sputnik

ABU DHABI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) Even though the situation in Yemen has improved lately, the international organizations still experience road blockages which hamper the deliveries of humanitarian relief to the local population, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Sputnik.

The ICRC plays an active role in providing humanitarian aid to Yemeni citizens affected by the ongoing conflict. In the second half of 2019, the organization provided health care and medical services to over a quarter of a million people, according its report, released in January.

"We appreciate the improvement of the political situation and negotiations and because it is coming hand in hand with our possibilities to assist the affected population down there.

But we need better cooperation with local authorities and the center. We have contact with everybody and I can say that there is respect," Peter Leskovsky, the ICRC electrical energy adviser for Near and middle East, said, referring to Yemen, noting that road blockages "still exist."

Last week, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said that the air war in Yemen had reduced by 80 percent in recent months, following the implementation of the UN-backed Stockholm peace accord and the Riyadh Agreement between Yemen's opposing parties.

Over 3 million people, the majority of which are women and children, have been made homeless as a result of ongoing fighting in Yemen's civil war that has raged since 2015, according to the ICRC figures.