Cordaid, February 2019. The conflict in Yemen, which started in 2015, caused severe food insecurity in large parts of the country and pushed Western parts of the country to the brink of famine . Many basic services, like health care, are no longer available.
To address urgent needs, Cordaid’s humanitarian team and our local partner Yamaan Foundation started providing food and shelter support in 2018. With our recently launched healthcare response, which is implemented in the region of Dhamar, thousands of people will have better access to medical care, ranging from vaccinations to safe deliveries.
At the moment, half of Yemen’s health care facilities are dysfunctional due to the conflict. Basic medical items are out of stock and health care staff have not been paid for months.
Cordaid and Yamaan’s three-year project to improve health care in Yemen focuses on Dhamar, a region south of the capital city of Sana’a. Here, we support 50 health centers, improving the access to basic medical care for the most common illnesses and afflictions for thousands of people.
“One would almost forget, but before the war Yemen had a reasonably well functioning health care system”, says Geertje van Mensvoort, Cordaid health care expert. “People received proper treatment, even for things like kidney dialysis. Today, the situation has massively deteriorated. We have to ensure that people have at least access to the basic care they need to survive.”
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