Stories of strength in Yemen: Seven lives changed by humanitarian support
“My life has stabilized and I’m optimistic about the future,” says Arwa. A single mother displaced by conflict in Yemen, Arwa started a small business thanks to a cash grant. She is one of 8 million people in Yemen who received life-saving support last year from around 200 humanitarian organizations – many of them local Yemeni partners.
In a country devastated by years of conflict, economic collapse and climate disasters, glimpses of hope still break through. From a mother restoring her child’s health to a family salvaging their home after floods, these are the stories of seven people in Yemen whose hope was restored by humanitarian assistance.
Noor
Sixteen-month-old Noor was not eating or sleeping well, and her mother worried about how often she was sick. Nabilah, a community health volunteer, visited Noor’s home and confirmed she was severely malnourished. Nabilah helped admit Noor to an outpatient therapeutic programme, and she received treatment for malnutrition at a health facility supported by an international non-governmental organization. Noor fully recovered and now plays with children in her neighbourhood.
Noor’s mother says: “May Allah bless you all, especially Nabilah, who referred my girl to the doctor. Now my child, my husband and I can sleep well.”
More than 17 million people in Yemen face acute food insecurity. One in two children under 5 years of age is acutely malnourished, including 537,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Yasmin
Yasmin and her family, internally displaced by the conflict, watched their tent and few remaining possessions wash away as torrential rains turned to floods.
“Our tent, fragile and worn, was no match for the storm,” Yasmin recalls. “We had nothing left; no food, no dry clothes, no hope. It felt like the world was against us.”
Help was quickly mobilized through a rapid-response mechanism that provides life-saving assistance to newly displaced families within 72 hours. Humanitarian responders provided Yasmin and others with critical emergency supplies, including ready-to-eat food and basic hygiene kits.
"We are not out of the woods yet," Yasmin admits. "But with the help we've received we can see a path forward.”
“My children are smiling again, and that is more than I could have asked for.”
Abdul-Muttalib
Abdul-Muttalib, a determined young man with a visual impairment, was forced to interrupt his schooling for two years, as accessible education was not available in his remote mountainous village. But hope returned when a local organization, supported by the Yemen Humanitarian Fund, built four classrooms equipped with essential facilities, allowing Abdul-Muttalib to return to the seventh grade.
He is studying once again thanks to the encouragement of community awareness campaigns, which emphasized the importance of including children with disabilities in schools, and the dedication of his family, who walk with him to school every day.
3.2 million children are out of school across Yemen, limiting their education, safety and opportunities for the future.
Najat
For more than five years, Najat and her family relied entirely on water trucking, which was expensive and unreliable.
“I often had to sacrifice other essential needs just to buy water for my family,” shares Najat.
Everything changed when a local organization brought an uninterrupted water supply to Najat’s city. They drilled 10 wells and installed a large solar-powered station and electrical grid, which now deliver more than 17 million litres of water daily, meeting 30 per cent of the city’s water needs.
“Now we have water in our homes, and I can focus on other aspects of my life instead of worrying about water every day,” says Najat.
13.6 million people in Yemen struggle to access a clean water source, and 17 million people do not have access to enough water to cover their basic daily needs. This contributes to several ongoing disease outbreaks; more than 250,000 suspected cholera cases were reported in Yemen last year.
Arwa
Arwa, a single mother, was worried about how to feed her four children and pay for their education and healthcare amid Yemen’s economic crisis and lack of job opportunities. But through an organization’s unconditional cash assistance programme, funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, she received monthly payments of 140,000 Yemeni riyals (US$110). Arwa used the first round of assistance to buy food and school supplies for her children. She then invested part of the cash in a small grocery business, which is now a successful source of income.
Currently in the fourth grade, Arwa’s son, Waleed, dreams of becoming an engineer so he can build a house for his family.
“My life has stabilized and I’m optimistic about the future," says Arwa.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. Almost 6.2 million women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence.
Mansor
Twelve-year-old Mansor fled with his family during the height of the conflict. They returned two years ago to find their home destroyed. During this time he missed a full year of education, as he had to drop out of school to care for the family’s sheep.
“Displacement was the most difficult thing I have ever experienced in my life,” says Mansor.
He wanted to return to school but first needed to catch up on the learning he had missed. Last year he joined free literacy and numeracy classes, part of a series to help children return to formal education. The non-formal programme equips students with basic reading, writing and calculation skills.
“I learned everything: reading, writing, multiplication, subtraction, division and everything,” Mansor says proudly.
When asked about his hope for the future, Mansor says: "I want to become a doctor."
There are 4.8 million internally displaced people in Yemen. Many were forced to flee multiple times and now face serious protection threats, including forced eviction. Out-of-school children often resort to child labour or household chores to support their families and survive, making it even more difficult to catch up on years of lost education.
Shawki
Shawki, a devoted husband and father of five, lives with a disability. He faced major challenges accessing facilities and the communal water point, making daily life extremely difficult.
Last year an organization connected 775 households in Shawki’s community to a new water supply and provided latrines accessible to people with disabilities. The project transformed daily life for Shawki’s family: instead of having to fetch water, they now have a reliable supply for drinking, cooking and cleaning. The latrine gives Shawki privacy and dignity, and it gives his family better hygiene and health conditions.
Any house without a latrine can’t be called a home," says Shawki. “I’ve been bearing this disability for a while, and I had been suffering right until they provided us with a latrine and water source.”
Humanitarian needs in Yemen are growing. This year more than 19 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection services.
Aid organizations are doing everything they can to save lives and alleviate people’s suffering. They have reached millions of vulnerable people so far this year with food assistance and enabled hundreds of health facilities to remain open. They are also supporting tens of thousands of women and girls with gender-based violence prevention and response services.
But even as the crisis worsens, support for these life-saving efforts is dwindling. Four months into the year, the Yemen humanitarian appeal is only 8 per cent funded.
The consequences are severe: 377 health facilities across Yemen have lost support, affecting 8.5 million people; food and cash assistance are drying up; and protection services have been dramatically scaled back, affecting 2 million people. All this – together with an increasingly challenging operating environment – is making life even more difficult for the most vulnerable people.
No matter what, humanitarians never give up. Nor do the people of Yemen, who persistently try to help their families and communities, despite the odds. Read more about the hope and strength of people in Yemen and the powerful work of humanitarian actors here.