Humanitarian Relief for Yemen

Earlier this year in January, tensions escalated in Yemen. For four days, most of Yemen was on Internet blackouts after air strikes damaged the National telecoms infrastructure in the city of Hodeida.

Three months later, the situation has worsened. The UN estimates that three in four people in Yemen — need humanitarian assistance and many are facing famine, and an estimated 2.3 million children are acutely malnourished. To make matters worse, the World Food Program said it was forced to reduce food rations for 8 million people in Yemen at the beginning of the year. “We have no choice but to take food from the hungry to feed the starving,” WFP executive director David Beasley said last month.

Over the last three months, YRRF has continued our programs in Yemen—from distributing food baskets and supporting orphans to launching long-term income-generating projects.

Distributing food in Yemen

Between January and March 2022, we distributed 8,317 food baskets—benefiting 58,219 people. These distributions occurred in dozens of districts across the country, including districts in Sana’a, Almahweet, Aljawf, Dhamar, Aden, Hodeida, Hajjah, Hadramout, Ibb, Raymah, Sada’a, and Taiz. We also donated food baskets to 5 charity food kitchens across the country.

Supporting orphans in Yemen and providing financial assistance

As we’ve mentioned in the past, the war in Yemen has orphaned an estimated 1.2 million children. Our orphan program provides sustainable support for families caring for orphans under 18 years of age. Between January and March 2022, we provided financial support to 2,726 orphans, averaging 908 orphas per month, so that they can meet their basic financial and educational needs.

We also provided financial and medical support to six people who were in dire need of assistance.

Launching income-generating projects in Yemen

Beyond providing direct aid, between January and March 2022, we launched three income-generating projects. We continued our existing program by distributing 90 sheep to families in need— each family received 3 sheep. We also distributed 90 honey bee hives to 30 families—each family received 3 honey bee hives. Beyond these two programs, we also distributed 35 sewing machines to women in need., and conducted sewing training for them. We supported the training of 60 women on midwifery practices. We also provided 60 orphans with training in computer programming, and cell phone repairs.

Providing clean water to people in Yemen

Clean water in Yemen is critical; in fact, Yemenis face a higher risk of contracting water-borne diseases. In December we distributed 103 water tanks—we estimate that 970 people will benefit from this project.