Doaa Shihab, WHO Technical Officer conducts a field visit to Al Jomhoria Hospital in Aden, an EHCP supported facility. Photo credit: WHO Yemen/ A. Abdulqawi21 August 2024, Aden and Sana’a, Yemen – WHO is championing the right to quality health services for everyone, everywhere. In Yemen, despite immense efforts from all partners, this right is yet to be realized.

People in Yemen have lived through a decade of conflict. Although there have been some moves towards peace, the political, economic and social contexts are still precarious. Standing by WHO in seeking to enhance health services to achieve better population well-being is the World Bank. It has provided WHO with financial support and technical collaboration to ensure that the backbone of Yemen’s health system remains intact.

The partnership between WHO and the World Bank in Yemen began in 2017, with the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP). In 2021, EHNP was replaced by the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), which is still ongoing. In addition, the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project (2020–2022) provided life-saving support during the COVID-19 emergency. It also led to lasting health system improvements in Yemen.

As a successor project, EHCP continues essential interventions started under EHNP, including to deliver fuel for electricity, plus oxygen, medicines and other supplies to about 100 hospitals across Yemen. EHCP also aspires to shift efforts across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, towards building sustainable institutional and individual capacities that strengthen Yemen’s health system and human capital.

EHCP delivers in 3 key areas: health, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). WHO implements the project with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), working with the authorities in Yemen.

Minister of Public Health and Population Dr Qasem Buhaibeh explained: “EHCP really is a lifeline for the health sector, from which millions of Yemenis benefit. To make the most of this project, we are increasingly focusing on enhancing the quality of care and building local capacities so that the gains we have made can be sustained in future.”

Through the project, WHO and UNICEF can support service delivery at more than 2400 health facilities. The agencies have worked with more than 12 000 health professionals to enhance their skills through capacity-building activities.

WHO Representative to Yemen Dr Arturo Pesigan described the impact of the project: “Under EHCP so far, about 13 million people have received essential health, nutrition and WASH services, including 7 million women, 4 million children and 620 000 pregnant women.”

In WHO, interventions under EHCP are implemented within the broader framework of the Yemen–WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2024–2025. This aligns with the United Nations Yemen Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022–2024.

The funding outlook for Yemen continues to be uncertain, as donors are prioritizing crises in other parts of the world. An injection of additional resources will be critical for EHCP activities to continue. All the while, WHO, UNICEF and UNOPS are working with Yemen’s authorities to identify ways to increase project efficiencies and maximize the sustainable impacts of activities.

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The World Bank and WHO in Yemen, 2017–2022: preventing collapse, building resilience

28 August 2024, Aden, Yemen – Mohamed Khalil a 2-year-old boy from Al-Khawkhah district in Hodeida, suffers from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications. His belly is swollen and his body is frail. When he began vomiting every time he ate, his mother scraped together what money she could from family and friends and took him to Al-Saddaqa Hospital in Aden.

Mohamed’s mother has 4 children, the youngest just 4 months old. She struggles to feed her family. As the prices of basic food items continue to rise, it becomes daily more difficult to make ends meet. “The cost of living is becoming unbearable. We can barely afford enough food for everyone," she says.

Despite these hardships, she is determined that Mohamed gets the care he needs.

"The doctors at the hospital are kind. They provide milk for free, medicines, lab investigations, and meals for me but we still need to pay for additional specialized tests. I don’t know how we will manage. I just want my son to get healthy, but it’s distressing when I can’t afford everything he needs.”

The August 2024 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report revealed that 50% of the population in Yemen’s southern governorates face acute food insecurity. The situation is exacerbated by reduced humanitarian aid and economic decline. The depreciation of the Yemeni Riyal has increased fuel prices and compounded already limited access to food.

The high prevalence of diseases such as cholera and measles, limited access to safe water, and inadequate sanitation contribute to worsening nutritional and medical conditions, while the displacement of populations and loss of livelihoods due to conflict place additional strains on Yemeni families.

Faiza Al-Maktari, a nurse in the nutrition department at Saddaqa Hospital, represents hope for families desperately seeking care for their children. Faiza says her work blends joy and sadness and speaks of “holding a frail baby and watching them recover” as akin to “witnessing a small miracle”.

Her department is stretched to breaking point as increasing numbers of malnourished children from nearby governorates, especially the West Coast region, strain essential supplies, leaving the staff to cope with decreasing resources. Despite the challenges, Faiza remains undeterred. She dedicates time to comforting anxious mothers, offering a listening ear and kind words.

“I try to give them hope,” she says. “Sometimes, a little kindness goes a long way.”

The 7 supported therapeutic feeding centres (TFC), 4 of them embedded in pediatric wards, operating in regions with high malnutrition rates, high levels of internal displacement and severe food insecurity, provided lifesaving services to over 5129 children between October 2023 and July 2024, addressing acute malnutrition cases with serious co-morbidities.

The TFCs offer round-the-clock, lifesaving health and nutrition care for severely malnourished children. Sustaining these services is vital to saving children’s lives. To alleviate the financial burden on families, caregivers receive cash support for transportation, and three meals a day during the admission period, and the costs of lab tests and admission kits are fully covered.

Faiza dreams of a Yemen where no child goes hungry, and families find stability and peace.

“I’m grateful to be here, to help any way I can,” she says. “But I long for a future where our work isn’t so desperately needed.”

Leaving the hospital each day, Faiza carries with her the memories of those she has helped and those she has lost. The memories fuel her resolve to return, day after day, striving to make a difference.

“It’s never easy, but I won’t give up. Not now, not ever.”

In collaboration with the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), WHO is dedicated to enhancing child health and well-being while reducing mortality and morbidity through a protective, integrated approach. WHO supports 101 therapeutic feeding centres across Yemen, covering approximately 80% of the target caseload in the country.

WHO assists the Ministry of Public Health and Population and other partners by providing technical capacity building for case management and supplying essential medical supplies, including pediatric and severe acute malnutrition kits.

In war-torn Yemen, torrential rains and flooding have destroyed homes and shelters

6 August 2024: children in an area affected by heavy rainfall and severe flooding in Sana'a, Yemen. Photo credit: Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images.26 August 2024, Sana’a, Yemen – Yemen’s skies have never been so capricious. Late last month, torrents of rain turned into gushing floodwater that swept through towns and villages, leaving a trail of destruction. And now, Yemen’s western and central governorates have been warned to expect yet more heavy rain.

Conflict-affected countries like Yemen suffer disproportionately from climate change due to their already undermined capacities, limited resources and fragile infrastructure. The effects of ongoing conflict strain their ability to respond and adapt to these challenges, increasing public health risks, population displacement and economic instability. Despite their minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, these countries face the harshest consequences.

In Marib, over 8400 internally displaced families found themselves suddenly homeless after the destruction of 6700 shelters. Relentless rain turned streets into rivers, washing away homes, livestock and livelihoods. In the western governorate of Hodeida the situation was equally dire. As entire communities were submerged the death toll climbed steadily, with at least 36 lives lost and 564 injured.

Public infrastructure, including health facilities and roads, has been washed away. Emergency mobile medical and outreach teams are urgently needed to provide essential health services to people in rural areas affected by floods. Where health facilities did survive the flooding, they struggle with electricity shortages and the destruction of medicines and equipment.

Fuel is urgently needed by hospitals to generate electricity, health authorities are requesting essential medicines, and clean water is one of the top priorities to avoid further outbreaks of water-borne diseases in the midst of Yemen’s already widespread cholera outbreak.

The streets of Sana’a are waterlogged and littered with debris. Stagnant water is rising, and with it the risk of diseases like dengue, malaria and cholera. Without immediate intervention, many flood-affected cities face increased public health risks.

In the coming months, increased rainfall is forecast, with the central highlands, Red Sea coastal areas and portions of the southern uplands expected to receive unprecedented levels in excess of 300 millimeters. 

Figure 1: Flood forecast by district.
Source: Agrometeorological Early Warning Bulletin, FAO – August 2024.Before the conflict, agriculture and food security thrived on seasonal rain. Yemen’s diverse topography, ranging from coastal plains to mountainous regions, allowed for a wide range of agricultural practices. Rainfall was relatively predictable, and farmers could rely on traditional rainwater harvesting techniques such as terracing and cisterns.

Today, the infrastructure that once supported this efficient water management has been damaged or destroyed and heavy rains often lead to devastating floods, compounding the already dire humanitarian situation. In recent years, increasingly deadly flash floods have destroyed homes, shelters and vital public services, increasing the exposure of Yemen’s population to risks and facilitating the spread of diseases.

National and sub-national health clusters are working to coordinate relief efforts and the timely delivery of aid while focusing on integrating health, nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene services into the response.

“Addressing the impact of rain in Yemen requires a multi-sectoral approach. Immediate humanitarian and health aid is crucial to provide relief to those affected by floods and other climate-related disasters,” said Dr Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative in Yemen.

“Long-term strategies must focus on rebuilding infrastructure and restoring traditional water management systems, improving health risk preparedness and enhancing the resilience of communities against future climate shocks. International support and climate justice are essential to help Yemen recover and adapt to the changing climate.”

The humanitarian response has been swift but the scale of the disaster is overwhelming. Aid organizations – already stretched by the ongoing conflict, funding shortages and growing access constraints – are scrambling to provide emergency relief.

The needs of Yemen’s population are staggering, and the complexity of the situation grows daily more difficult.