Reproductive health facilities resume life-saving work, but funding remains scarce

In mid-May, just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Yemen, funding for UNFPA’s life-saving reproductive health services dried up. UNFPA was forced to suspend the provision of reproductive health care in 140 out of 180 health facilities.

The consequences have been catastrophic, particularly for pregnant women and girls. Health workers around the country recounted heart-breaking instances of preventable maternal deaths taking place after care became unavailable.

Since then, with limited funding coming in, UNFPA has been able to resume operations in some key health facilities across the country. Women’s lives were immediately saved.

Al-Shael Health Centre in Hajjah Governorate was able to resume reproductive health services in July with funding from the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, after shuttering these services earlier in the year.

In Socotra, with funding from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, UNFPA has been able to support reproductive health services at two health facilities.

Despite these recent re-openings, some 70 percent of UNFPA’s reproductive health programmes in the country remain closed due to the lack of funding. Only 61 out of 180 UNFPA-supported reproductive health facilities are functioning.

By this time last year, UNFPA had supported 265 health facilities and 3,800 reproductive health workers, reaching over 2 million women and girls with reproductive health services. Today, an estimated 1.5 million women of childbearing age are no longer receiving reproductive health services because of the funding shortage.

UNFPA estimates that approximately 6 million women and girls of childbearing age in Yemen need access to reproductive health care. More than a million pregnant women are malnourished. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming the country’s health system, escalating the vulnerabilities of women and girls.

To keep reaching the most vulnerable women and girls up to the end of the year, UNFPA urgently requires $38.7 million, with an additional $20 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Original source: UNFPA