Yemen
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Overview
Yemen is currently a low-income, food-deficit country, suffering from weak infrastructure, widespread poverty and unemployment, rapid population growth, low education indicators and high gender disparities. To compound these issues, food prices are high, and internal conflict and climate change are increasing both the vulnerability and number of internally displaced people (IDPs). A recent UNOCHA report estimates that 48% of households in Yemen do not have secure food supplies, and half of all children are chronically malnourished.
The Humanitarian Forum's core approaches are entirely suited to meeting these needs, and Yemeni organisations have highlighted the need for external support and cooperation. Our 2005 workshop in Yemen highlighted issues surrounding the accountability and transparency of humanitarian organisations, and the need to increase the visibility of the sector.
The Humanitarian Forum initiative was first introduced in Yemen in 2005, and was registered as an independent organisation in April 2009. With an increasingly representative membership, the local forum is developing local coordination and cooperation mechanisms and tools to ensure a more collective response during emergencies. For a more update list of activities, please contact Ahmad Al-Sharaji, the HFY country director.
Activities in 2009
- Accountability Workshop: a working group was formed to look into local accountability practices in greater detail.
- Coordination and cooperation workshop with UN OCHA: looked into various projects as practical examples of coordination among members.
- expanding membership and completing an accountability code.
- Successfully acquired European Commission funding for a capacity building project with Islamic Relief Yemen.
- Became a leading light in the movement to develop a bespoke national Code of Conduct for humanitarian agencies in Yemen, working with local organisations, to ensure humanitarian standards are met, whilst drawing on vital local knowledge and expertise.
| Yemen: | At a glance |
| Population | 23,013,376 |
| Capital City |
Sana'a (population: 1,972,011) |
| Public debt | 33.5% GDP |
| Religion | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia). Small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu |
| Health | Life expectancy: 65 (women), 61 (men); access to sanitation: 28% HIV/AIDS: pervalence in adults: 0.1%; Malaria cases: 15,160 per 100,000 people |
Activities in 2010
In the first few months of 2010, Humanitarian Forum Yemen and The Humanitarian Forum Secretariat have already made headway in new projects in Yemen. The respite which the ceasefire concluded between the Houthis and the Yemeni Government on 11th February provided an opportunity for humanitarian actors to reach victims of the violence - some for the first time - but it has also provided the opportunity to see just how devastating the conflict in Yemen has been. Nonetheless, there is no shortage of courage, innovation and expertise amongst local humanitarian actors, nor amongst the local people they work with.
Visit to IDP camps: February 2010
Coordination and Cooperation Workshop: 22-23 March 2010
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Contact Humanitarian Forum Yemen: Ahmad AlSharaji
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Humanitarian Update
United Nations relief agencies have appealed for US $177 million to meet the humanitarian need in Yemen.
A raft of problems including unemployment, food deficit, lack of education and weak infrastructure are being compounded by outbreaks of violence, creating both chronic and acute humanitarian needs. Relief organisations working in Yemen must tackle these problems whilst creating stability for the country's most vulnerable people.
The appeal money will help meet the basic needs of food, health and hygiene, water and sanitation and shelter, so critical to Yemen's path to recovery, says Ms Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. "This humanitarian response plan will enable some 1.3million food-insecure people, including an estimated 200,000 displaced from the Sa'ada conflict as well as over 162,000 refugees, to meet their critical needs."
