Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 2023 — CIVIC has joined nearly 100 other INGOs, Yemeni civil society organizations, and United Nations agencies in highlighting Yemen’s dire humanitarian funding gap. At this critical point, greater support is vital so that Yemenis can begin to rebuild their lives:

“Already exhausted by more than eight years of war, over 21.6 million people, 75 percent of the Yemeni population, are grappling with humanitarian needs. The people of Yemen need and want to look into the future and move away from humanitarian assistance towards self-reliance and rebuilding their country. Yemen stands at the historic opportunity for a shift towards lasting peace. The humanitarian community is committed to supporting this shift.

Today, we are still faced with 17 million people who are food insecure. This includes 6.1 million people in the emergency phase under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which signifies extreme food shortages and acute malnutrition, especially affecting women and children, with a risk of hunger-related deaths. Yemen faces critical water shortages for both agricultural production and human use. Nearly 15.4 million people require access to safe water and sanitation to avoid being at risk of cholera and other deadly diseases. Overcrowded living conditions in camps, low immunization rates, and inaccessibility to many children, have seen an increase in measles and rubella cases. Yemen’s health system continues to crumble under the pressure to meet increasing needs with little or no resources, resulting in an estimated 20.3 million people lacking access to healthcare. Across the country, one woman dies every two hours during pregnancy or childbirth, while 6 of 10 births occur without a skilled birth attendant. Mine clearance must be highly prioritised, as Yemen remains one of the world’s most contaminated countries with explosive remnants of war (ERW) leading to death and maiming, particularly children.

At least 17.7 million people require protection assistance and services. Women and girls, in particular, face increased risks of violence and exploitation while trying to access basic services due to distant, challenging journeys. More than 9 million children are at risk and need protection and essential services. Nearly one in four Yemenis, or over 5.5 million people, suffer from mental health disorders, mainly as a result of living for years in conflict, and require medical intervention. Tens of thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers travelling on one of the world’s most hazardous routes between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East are exposed to many dangers, including violence, being caught in the conflict frontline, trafficking, and detainment. An estimated 209,000 migrants and more than 71,000 refugees and asylum seekers remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance throughout the country, particularly children who are extremely vulnerable to severe dangers.

Despite the magnitude of these humanitarian needs, the decreasing funding trends continue to worry the humanitarian community in Yemen, with a huge funding gap, steadily rising over the past 5 years, further compounding the situation. By August 2023, the Humanitarian Response Plan has seen only 31.2 percent of the USD 4.34 billion needed in funding, resulting in drastic and concerning cuts to aid, impacting the most vulnerable in Yemen. Among these, the recently announced global funding cuts by WFP will lead to a suspension of malnutrition prevention interventions in Yemen from end of September, affecting 2.4 million people. Funding cuts are leaving millions of already vulnerable people exposed to circulating disease outbreaks, hunger, and limited access to health care, as support to health facilities in the most vulnerable areas is also reducing. After 2019, when humanitarian funding was at 87 percent, the funding coverage repeatedly fell well short of needs, eventually amounting to barely over 50 percent in 2022.

In 2022, 43 percent of Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) reached local organisations and while this percentage is a promising increase within this funding mechanism, it has amounted to $32.2 million. This represents a very low percentage of overall funding for Yemen. Concerning levels of funding in 2023 will also negatively impact the thriving and active civil society space and their ability to operate. Increasing quality funding for Yemeni civil society organisations, including women-led organisations, will ensure improved outreach to communities and a positive step towards honouring commitments to localisation.

The country’s economy has also been ravaged. The continued challenges over fuel, weak and contradictory currencies and fiscal policies, and ongoing inflation are impacting the ability of the population to afford essential goods and services, pushing them to resort to irreversible negative coping strategies. The international community must, alongside humanitarian assistance, support Yemen by investing in an economic financial package aimed to stabilise local currencies, support and enable commercial import of commodities into the country, and support solutions towards a mechanism to pay civil servant salaries.

Furthermore, with the hope of peace, there is strong momentum to invest in durable solutions to displacement. This is positive as the international community must work to support Yemenis to find alternatives to displacement as soon as safe, dignified, and sustainable options become available. Humanitarian and development response plans designed to find pathways towards durable solutions to displacement must be informed by the views and preferences of displaced persons, especially in a context where conflict is ongoing. To fully do so, unhindered access is required to all communities to identify their needs and intentions. We hope the forthcoming 2023 Internal Displacement Solutions Fund (IDSF) will prioritise Yemen. This, in time, will also alleviate dependence on humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian partners continue to deliver aid to an average of 9 million people each month. Between January and July 2023, over 13.6 million people were reached with food assistance, over 4.7 million people were provided with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, over 2.6 million people received healthcare assistance and over 3 million people received nutritional support.

As international and national actors within the humanitarian and development communities in Yemen, we acknowledge the generosity of the donor community in supporting the response over the years and urge donor Member States to urgently consider:

• Upscaling of quality and flexible humanitarian funding, in line with the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan so that UN, INGOs, and particularly to Yemeni civil society organisations, including those supporting women and girls, are empowered to meet needs and to avoid a regression of gains made towards strengthening the resilience of the people of Yemen and support them to regain self-reliance. Yemen’s humanitarian response requires an expanded and more diversified number of donors.
• Ensuring equity of funding across sectors, including those that have traditionally seen underfunding, such as health, education, and protection, mindful that humanitarian support in these sectors has a determining role in longer-term recovery and the country’s future.
• Ensuring humanitarian funding is made available as early as possible in the year and continued at regular intervals across the year to enable uninterrupted service delivery.
• Working closely with the undersigned towards collectively increasing coherence between humanitarian and development aid, within a space that supports and encourages inclusive peace efforts. Upscaling of development funding must be a priority, while at the same time not undermining humanitarian funding to address ongoing needs.

As Maya, 10, a landmine survivor, said, “Children and the young generation of today will have a bright future, if the resources are made available. But the leadership must come from the world. My message is to help the children of Yemen live in peace.”

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Signed,

UN Agencies

1. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
2. International Organization for Migration (IOM)
3. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
4. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Yemen
5. UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
6. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
7. World Health Organization (WHO)

International non-governmental organisations

1. Acted
2. Action Contre la Faim (ACF)
3. Action For Humanity International
4. ADRA
5. CARE
6. CIVIC
7. Danish Refugee Council
8. Direct Aid
9. DORCAS
10. Geneva Call
11. GiveDirectly
12. Global Communities
13. Humanitarian Aid & Development Organization
14. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International
15. International Medical Corps (IMC)
16. The International Rescue Committee
17. INTERSOS
18. Islamic Relief Yemen
19. Mariestopes International Yemen (MSIY)
20. Medecins du Monde (MdM)
21. MedGlobal (MG)
22. Mercy Corps
23. Muslim Hands
24. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
25. OXFAM
26. Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH)
27. People in Need
28. Save the Children
29. War Child Canada (WCC)
30. War Child UK (WCUK)
31. ZOA

Yemeni civil society organisations

1. Abs Development Organization for Woman & Child (ADO)
2. Al Amal Development Association – Shabwa
3. All Girls Foundation for Development
4. Al Maroof Association for Humanitarian Development
5. Al Shafaqa Foundation for Kidney Failure and Cancer Care
6. Angela for Development and Humanitarian Response
7. Arab Human Rights Foundation
8. Association Trend of Human Development Mahweet Governorate
9. The Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled in Al-Muftah District
10. Atar Foundation for Social Development
11. Basma Foundation for Child and Woman Development
12. Benevolence Coalition for Humanitarian Relief
13. Best Future Foundation
14. The Coalition of Humanitarian Relief (CHR)
15. Democracy School
16. Enqath Foundation For Development (EFD)
17. Enjaz Foundation for Development
18. Fanar Aden Foundation for Human Work
19. Food Save Association
20. For All Foundation for Development (FAF)
21. Future Makers Association
22. Generations Without Qat Organization (GWQ)
23. Hemmat Shabab Foundation for Development
24. Humanitarian Work Library
25. I Am For My Country Foundation
26. I’m Rural Woman Organization for Community Development
27. Special Need Association Jameiat Al Iatijat Liltanmiat Al Ansania
28. Kayan foundation for Peace and Development
29. Khadija Foundation for Development
30. Knoz Yemen for Humanitarian Development
31. Life Smile Foundation
32. Make Hope for Development and Relief
33. Mysarah Foundation for Development
34. Nabd Development and Evolution Organization (NDEO)
35. Nasaem Foundation for Development
36. National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response (NFDHR)
37. Neda’a Foundation for Development
38. New Life for Solidarity and Development
39. Pioneers Foundation for Development and Rights – Lahj
40. Protection and Rehabilitation Center for Women and Girls
41. Qudrah Organization for Sustainable Development
42. Rawabi Al-Nahdah Developmental Foundation
43. Relief and Development Peer Foundation (RDP)
44. Red Crescent Division Abs
45. Rifa’a Organization for Community and Human Development
46. School Feeding and Humanitarian Relief Project
47. Social Development Hodeidah Girls Foundation
48. Socotra Foundation for Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Relief
49. Socotra Women’s Foundation for Response and Development
50. Steps Foundation for Civil Development (STEPS)
51. Sufra Al Amal Association for the People with Special Needs
52. Tamdeen Youth Foundation
53. Tomorrow Foundation for Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Relief
54. Weaam Empowerment Foundation
55. White Hands Association for Women’s Development
56. Yemen Center for Human Rights Studies (YCHRS-Aden)
57. Yemen Family Care Association (YFCA)
58. Yemen Karam Organization (YEKO)
59. Youth Leadership Development Foundation (YLDF)
60. Yemen Peace School Organization

For additional information or media inquiries, please contact:

• CIVIC’s global media team: [email protected]