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Middle East

Yemen

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FRAGILITY RANKING

1st out of 180 countries


Overview

Once renowned as one of the world’s oldest centers of civilization, Yemen is now the site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The country’s natural and archaeological treasures, including four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, have been largely destroyed by Yemen’s brutal civil war. However, these losses cannot compare to the unfathomable human suffering the Yemeni people have endured during numerous years of grinding conflict.

Since the outset of civil war in 2014, Yemen has spiraled into catastrophe with famine-like conditions and mass displacement across the country. The healthcare system has completely collapsed, triggering outbreaks of malnutrition and disease, including more than one million cases of cholera.

Clashes have frequently closed the country’s main ports, blocking key imports like food and medicine. Yemen was already the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula before the war, and the conflict’s economic costs are higher than most Yemeni families can bear. As food prices skyrocket across the country, people can’t afford the food they need to survive – and hunger may ultimately end more lives than fighting.

With an estimated 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, Yemen is one of Relief International’s most extensive programs.

Relief International began operating in Yemen in 2009 prior to the onset of the conflict, working on long-term development projects to improve sanitation, hygiene and economic opportunities.

As the country’s civil war has shifted, so has our work. We operate on the front lines of the crisis, delivering emergency rations of food, safe drinking water, life-saving healthcare and direct cash support.

Our work includes:

  • Innovative measures to ensure aid reaches its intended recipients, such as pioneering the use of biometric data to deliver food in conflict-affected areas where there is greater risk of aid diversion
  • Providing direct cash assistance to the most vulnerable families living near places with functioning markets, empowering them to purchase what they need most while also stimulating the local economy
  • Mobile clinics traversing Yemen’s rugged hillsides to deliver high-quality healthcare and nutritional assistance to remote communities cut off from services by the war
  • Delivering emergency provisions of food, shelter and hygiene supplies to displaced communities as fighting drives them from their homes

“With no foreseeable end to this conflict, our team is prepared to continue our emergency response in Yemen for the long-term, until a sustainable peace is reached. That’s when the next phase of our work will begin to reconstruct this devastated nation,” shares Relief International’s Regional Director for the Middle East. “The country’s infrastructure, economy and public services will have to be rebuilt, as well as trust between communities – and that will take time.”


Our 2022 Impact in Yemen
130K
households receiving food assistance
229K
healthcare consultations provided
36K
people with improved access to safe drinking water and/or sanitation systems
60K
people with increased income from economic opportunity programs

Stories from Yemen

Learn more about our work in Yemen from our staff and program participants.

Yemen

Delivering Essential Healthcare In Yemen

For many people in Yemen, clinics and hospitals are inaccessible or cost too much to use. RI is working hard to change this one health facility at a time.

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Yemen

Leading Life Saving Projects in Yemen

A trailblazer for women in leadership, Ghazwa supports implementation of RI’s vital health programs across Yemen.

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Yemen

Making sure people get the healthcare they urgently need

Seven-month-old Saqr was diagnosed with acute malnutrition with complications when he was referred to Ma’abar hospital in North Yemen by one of Relief International’s (RI) Nutrition Assistants.

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Yemen

Behind the COVID-19 Outbreak in Yemen: War. Disease. Fear.

The five-year long conflict in Yemen was labelled the world’s worst humanitarian crisis before the pandemic. Now, the outbreak of COVID-19 is pushing families to their breaking point.

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Yemen

Dangerous Delivery: The Reality of Pregnancy in Yemen

“January 15 was one of the worst days of my life,” recalls Kadija Al-Qadri. After a relatively easy pregnancy, she eagerly awaited the moment when she would hold her youngest child in her arms. But Kadija’s excitement was replaced with fear after she learned that her baby was transverse, or positioned horizontally. In Yemen, it’s a diagnosis that can be deadly.

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Yemen

Difficult Road: A Child’s Journey Out Of Malnutrition

Since fighting broke out in Yemen more than five years ago, the country’s capital city of Sana’a has witnessed the collapse of its economy, health system, and most major public services. This has left many people unable to access life-saving treatment when they are ill or injured.

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Yemen

Delivering Essential Healthcare In Yemen

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Yemen

Leading Life Saving Projects in Yemen

yemen-explainer-hero.jpg

Yemen

Making sure people get the healthcare they urgently need

yemen-explainer-body2-e1597264260382.jpg

Yemen

Behind the COVID-19 Outbreak in Yemen: War. Disease. Fear.

yemen-maternal-health-01272020-e1580419846331.jpg

Yemen

Dangerous Delivery: The Reality of Pregnancy in Yemen

Yemen

Yemen

Difficult Road: A Child’s Journey Out Of Malnutrition

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Ghazwa-Yemen.png
yemen-explainer-hero.jpg
yemen-explainer-body2-e1597264260382.jpg
yemen-maternal-health-01272020-e1580419846331.jpg
Yemen
Untitled-design-3.png

Delivering Essential Healthcare In Yemen

Ghazwa-Yemen.png

Leading Life Saving Projects in Yemen

yemen-explainer-hero.jpg

Making sure people get the healthcare they urgently need

yemen-explainer-body2-e1597264260382.jpg

Behind the COVID-19 Outbreak in Yemen: War. Disease. Fear.

yemen-maternal-health-01272020-e1580419846331.jpg

Dangerous Delivery: The Reality of Pregnancy in Yemen

Yemen

Difficult Road: A Child’s Journey Out Of Malnutrition

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Timeline

2015

War breaks out in Yemen. Relief International delivers critical stores of blankets, mattresses, kitchen supplies, and more than 8,000 metric tons of food to families caught in the middle of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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Timeline

2016

The war in Yemen enters its second year, and hunger mounts across the country as markets close, food imports stall, and access to food dwindles. Relief International launches a wide-scale response to rising malnutrition rates by equipping mobile medical clinics to traverse the country’s rugged hills to ensure access to quality healthcare, particularly in remote pockets of the country cut off from main services.

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Timeline

2017

The number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen surpasses one million. Relief International responds to the deadly outbreak by setting up treatment centers, training community health workers, and partnering with local communities to stem the spread of the disease. In 2017, our teams conducted a total of 126,349 medical consultations.

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Timeline

2018

Food prices skyrocket after warring parties blockade the port of Hodeida – a lifeline for 70 percent of all aid into Yemen. Relief International expands its programs to deliver emergency stocks of food, medicine, and other life-saving supplies to families fleeing an escalation in the violence surrounding Hodeida.

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Timeline

2019

Despite steps taken by the international community towards peace in late 2018, violence continues to escalate in areas outside of Hodeida. Relief International is among one of the largest providers of aid responding to the crisis unfolding in the northern governorates of Hajjah, Dhamar, and Amran, where our teams are providing comprehensive healthcare and food aid for families displaced by the fighting.

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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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