The Yemeni people live under the burden of hardship and a bitter struggle for survival, due to the continuing conflict in the country for years. The ongoing challenges related to the economic collapse and the deterioration of a large number of basic services and social protection systems affect the population’s ability to secure their basic needs, forcing them to resort to negative coping strategies.
Displacement also exacerbates these challenges. According to UN reports, Yemen, afflicted by poverty and chronic unemployment over the past years of the war, has witnessed the displacement of about four and a half million, most of whom are children and women. These forcibly displaced people suffer another layer of hardship, and struggle to provide the basic necessities to survive, according to a report issued by the World Bank in mid-September 2023.
The humanitarian community is responsible for finding durable solutions that will allow vulnerable groups to live with dignity, strengthen the protection capacity of groups with special needs, such as women and children, and increase opportunities of self-reliance for vulnerable groups, particularly those who are living in fragile areas or who are displaced, in addition to supporting the communities that have graciously hosted the displaced.
HUMAN ACCESS, as one of the major organizations active within the humanitarian communities in Yemen, has provided a reliable, safe and diverse environment that responds to the shocks of the most vulnerable groups it targets through the Protection and Livelihood Support Project, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
This project had a very important impact in the governorates of Hadhramaut, Marib, Al-Mahra, Shabwa, and Hodeida, as you will find in the folds of this report.
Over 17 million Yemenis in need of assistance and protection
According to a joint statement issued by major UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations in mid-September 2023, more than 21.6 million people, or 75% of Yemen’s population, are already suffering from exhaustion due to nine years of conflict, and are grappling with humanitarian needs.
At least 17.7 million people need protection assistance and services. Women and girls, in particular, face increased risks of violence and exploitation as they attempt to access basic services due to long and difficult journeys. More than 9 million children are at risk and need protection and basic services.
These shocking numbers come amid warnings from economic experts that more escalating crises may face millions of Yemeni residents if the conflict continues in the country. The experts added that this matter requires conscious and effective projects to accommodate vulnerable groups in the economic and productive sector and support the rights of people who seek safety from war and violence, in line with human rights and dignity.
That’s what HUMAN ACCESS realized early on, using extensive experience, flexibility, and high transparency. Through its tireless efforts, the association has built comprehensive social protection systems, expanded livelihoods, and demonstrated solidarity with communities hosting displaced people in order to empower Yemeni citizens, who suffers from poverty and famine in the worst global disaster, according to UN reports.
Income and protection programs address multiple crises
Yemenis are exposed to difficult economic conditions, especially women. The economic collapse resulting from the conflict has destroyed the structure of the labor market in Yemen, as well as the absence of economic opportunities available to earn a living for the working class of the population, leaving vulnerable people exposed to harsh conditions that threaten to have catastrophic consequences for everyone.
The low living standard and high rates of poverty and unemployment among women also represent challenges to the progress of Yemeni women. As women lead many families in various regions, they have been deprived of the most rights and are more than ever in need of safety, protection, and assistance to overcome challenges.
Employment and livelihood opportunities are one of the most effective ways for people to rebuild their lives in a dignified and safe manner. Providing sustainable income and social protection programs address multiple and interconnected problems, including poverty and unemployment, and enhance the resilience of the vulnerable to face difficult circumstances. This would help reduce dependence on humanitarian aid over time and play a crucial role in future recovery.
What HUMAN ACCESS is doing in Yemen represents a living example of this theory. With the support of partners and donors, vulnerable families are encouraged to acquire craft skills, learn handicrafts, and earn a living, in order to ensure that their basic needs and access to services are met, as well as to support their aspirations for the future and move away from aid toward self-sufficiency.
In a special statement, Riyadh Mohammed, Executive Director of HUMAN ACCESS, said that providing sustainable income and social protection systems protect the most vulnerable groups from crises and pressures throughout their lives. He added that the association is keen to implement effective and well-designed programs in this field to ensure a positive impact in the long term.
Riyadh explained that women and girls are among the most vulnerable groups in the Yemeni crisis. This is because displacement and the disintegration of protection networks over the past years have greatly exacerbated their vulnerability and caused them to be exposed to violence and to the emergence of serious threats to their rights. There are also many women who have lost their husbands and are in desperate need of safe spaces as a basis from which to flourish and transform their lives.
59,776 beneficiaries of 11 safe spaces for women and girls
In a situation of despair and deprivation, HUMAN ACCESS represented a point of hope for the poorest and most needy, especially children and women, besides displaced people and host communities. This is achieved through the protection and livelihood support project, “Safe Space for Women and Girls”, funded by UNFPA, which is being implemented in the governorates of Hadhramaut, Marib, Al-Mahra, Shabwa, and Hodeida for the fourth year in a row.
The project endeavors to ensure that vulnerable people obtain their rights, find solutions to live in dignity and safety, and respond to issues of gender-based violence by providing specialized multi-sectoral services for women and girls.
The project helps increase community awareness to combat violence against women, change many misconceptions among people, and connect the vulnerable to social safety nets and protection mechanisms, allowing vulnerable communities to build a safer future.
The 11 safe spaces for women and girls spread out and consistent with the environment succeeded in reaching 59,776 beneficiaries of the project’s services during the period from January to August 2023. The project's interventions also assist in the advancement of many families and enable them to access the necessary economic resources.
There have been many women empowered in a variety of crafts, including sewing, perfume making, mobile phone maintenance, and others, which has enabled them to continue giving in spite of difficult circumstances. Empowering women economically supports them mentally and financially while reflecting positively on society as a whole.
A Yemeni woman has suffered many setbacks. Although she is always ambitious, she faces challenges in her desire to achieve herself. Thus, HUMAN ACCESS's project met the significant needs of women through its diverse services, which included legal and awareness services in order for women to understand their legitimate rights, psychological support to cope with shocks, and other multi-sectoral services to ensure that protection systems and livelihood programs are at the core of the organization's work.
Response to children's needs and support their right to interact and play
Children have ambitions and dreams, but wars, displacement, and economic conditions have disrupted these dreams. Children are less able to adapt due to their physiological weakness and bear the brunt of the harsh effects of conflict.
There are children who do not enjoy the most basic rights, such as protection, like the rest of the children in the world. There are children who are being exploited, abused, and violated their rights in a serious and disturbing manner.
In a recent statement by Save the Children International organization, children in Yemen are at risk from a lack of community workers, safe spaces, and psychosocial support. No doubt, children living in displacement camps are more at risk, as they suffer from many obstacles, leading to psychological problems and destroying their futures.
As a result, HUMAN ACCESS places a high priority on childhood protection. To this end, it established 11 special spaces for children in the governorates of Hadhramaut, Marib, Hodeida, Al-Mahra, and Shabwa, under the umbrella of the Protection and Livelihoods Project, with UNFPA’s support.
This project was designed to create an environment that encourages children's positive interactions with their peers and their communities while allowing them to exercise their rights. Nearly 14179 boys and girls benefited from these safe spaces from the beginning of this year until last August 2023.
Children's spaces offer a wide range of services to children through qualified specialists, including psychological support, recreational and educational opportunities, and skill development, based on the belief that all children, regardless of their circumstances, should have the right to live, learn, and play in a safe environment.
These spaces also helped prepare mothers who are survivors of violence to receive gender-based violence response services within safe spaces.
It is wonderful to see the happiness of children affected by conflict in these spaces. For them, it’s one of the very few places where they can be children. It is a place where they learn, play and engage in outdoor activities.
Protecting the rights of every child, whoever and everywhere, is the surest way to build a more peaceful, prosperous and just world for all. Deprivation and discrimination during childhood cause damage that may last a lifetime.
(A.Q): From orphanhood darkness to the economic empowerment’s light
With UNFPA's support, HUMAN ACCESS' women and girls safe space path has many inspiring examples, like the 23-year-old girl (A.Q). Her name has been encoded to protect her identity. Despite the serious repercussions of orphanhood, she ended up with a beacon of hope at the end of her harsh experience.
The separation of her parents during her early childhood led to her being oppressed and deprived as a result of this family disintegration. It is a setback that only those who experience it can realize.
The tragedy increases when the victim is a girl confined between the walls of a narrow house, in a reality with no glimmer of hope, as all doors are closed to her and she faces various challenges.
She lived on the margins of life with her mother under the care of one of her mother’s relatives, waiting for what the relatives would provide to meet their basic needs, amidst noticeable discrimination. She was not spared gender-based violence because she was a girl and an orphan, in a society where women were already vulnerable and violence against women was widespread.
A.Q. was hurt, thirsty for self-fulfillment, and seeking an outlet to break the social restrictions imposed on her as a woman. After an arduous journey, she reached it through one of the child-friendly spaces in Hadhramaut Governorate, which represented a turning point in her life and a bright stage of self-reliance for her.
She was given psychological support to escape the consequences of orphanhood and deprivation. The woman was then professionally qualified in the field of mobile phone maintenance and programming as well as economically empowered, providing her with the requirements for this specific, income-generating profession, thus enabling her to become financially independent and to maximize her strength and potential.
Within a short period of time, (A.Q) was able to open a shop to maintain and program smartphones, giving women's communities a valuable service to protect their privacy and data.
Through this project, she became financially independent, allowing her to meet her needs and enhance her position in her family and community.
Today, (A.Q) works passionately in managing her own project, follows everything new in the world of mobile phones, and even aspires to expand. She commented on this empowerment by saying: “I have found myself and saw the light. I forgot the pain of the past. The friendly space changed my life.”
There are many unique success stories similar to hers for women from various vulnerable groups, for whom the Protection and Livelihoods Project is a lifeline.
