UNHCR, IOM and partners jointly launched the 2016 Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan in Nairobi on 9 December. A total of USD 94.1 million is required for an anticipated 163,980 beneficiaries (refugees, migrants and returnees fleeing from Yemen to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, and host communities) by December 2016.

UN, IOM and NGO regional agencies, along with the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, met together in Nairobi on 9 December to review lessons learnt from the regional approach in 2015, share updates on the Gulf of Aden strategy and discuss ongoing scenario planning.

Both UNHCR and IOM co-leads of the RRMRP undertook a joint mission to Riyadh on 15 December, to meet with the Managing Director of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center. KSC reaffirmed their interest in funding the Somalia proposal targeting the return, reception and integration of 20,000 Somalis from Yemen, at the request of the FGoS through its ambassador in Riyadh.

Data on sea arrivals in Yemen show that despite the ongoing conflict some 92,446 people arrived in Yemen by boat in 2015. This is one of the highest annual totals of the past decade. A full two thirds arrived since March 2015 when the conflict began.

As of 01 March 2016, 173,197 individuals from Yemen have arrived into the region, including 82,317 into the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia & Sudan)