New funding from the European Union to ensure over a million women and girls receive life-saving assistance in Yemen

Sana'a, 12 October 2023 – UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is partnering with the European Union to assist over a million of the most vulnerable women, girls, and displaced people in Yemen with emergency relief, life-saving reproductive health care and mental health services, with new funding of €10 million euros (about US$10,5 million dollars).

More than eight years of conflict have severely damaged Yemen’s healthcare system. Less than half of births are assisted by skilled medical personnel and only one-third take place in a health facility due to extreme shortages in essential medicines, supplies and specialized staff. In this context, one woman dies in childbirth every two hours, mostly from preventable causes.

After years of conflict, mental health and psychosocial needs have reached extremely high levels. While it is estimated that 7 million people require mental health treatment and support, care remains scarce and only 120,000 have uninterrupted access to these services.

Since the beginning of the conflict over 4.5 million people have been displaced and many live in protracted displacement. The impact of climate change is compounding their vulnerabilities. Since January 2023, nearly 200,000 people have been affected by torrential rains and flooding. This confirms a rapid response mechanism addressing the displaced populations’ most urgent needs is still essential.

“The EU will continue to stand by Yemenis who need humanitarian aid after more than eight years of unresolved conflict and crisis. This funding aims at helping women, girls and displaced people access crucial health care,” said European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič. “We won’t let down vulnerable Yemenis who rely on us and our partnership with UNFPA to access vital assistance in their hour of need. I call on the parties to the conflict to facilitate unhindered access and allow the delivery of urgent assistance to those in need, particularly women and children”.

With EU support, UNFPA will provide emergency obstetric and maternal health care in 52 health facilities and mental health services in two specialized psychological care centres. UNFPA will also support the distribution of emergency relief supplies among newly displaced persons through the UNFPA-led Rapid Response Mechanism.
The support of the European Union has been pivotal to UNFPA’s humanitarian response in Yemen, with more than €50 million in financial contributions since 2018.

“Women and girls are paying an unacceptable price in humanitarian crises around the world, including in Yemen, where an estimated 12.6 million women and girls require reproductive health and protection services,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “UNFPA is grateful for the continued support from the European Union in helping to reach hundreds of thousands of Yemeni women and girls with lifesaving care.”

UNFPA is the sole provider of essential life-saving reproductive health medicines in Yemen and leads the coordination and provision of women’s reproductive health and protection services across the country.