EU steps up support to displaced and crisis-affected communities in Yemen

The European Union has adopted a €30 million programme in support of vulnerable communities suffering the effects of prolonged displacement in Yemen.

This brings the total EU development assistance to Yemen in 2018 to €71 million. This longer-term support aims to preserve the social fabric, provide increased livelihood opportunities and enhance food and nutrition security. The overall EU commitment in support to resilience and development in Yemen now stands at €244 million since the start of the conflict in 2015.

The package will address the urgent needs of internally displaced populations and vulnerable host communities in Yemen by providing basic services in health, education, protection and legal counseling. It will also help build the capacities of local institutions responsible for monitoring population flows.

Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said: “The prolonged crisis in Yemen has devastated the lives of millions. Close to 18 million Yemenis don’t have their daily meals secured. More than 3 million have had to flee their homes in fear for their lives – some of them only to be displaced a second or third time. The EU is deploying all the instruments available to it in support of the UN-led peace process in Yemen. This new package of assistance will help displaced Yemenis to rebuild their livelihoods and overcome the current crisis.”

Together with the €41 million package adopted in October 2018, this measure is part of the EU’s comprehensive response to build socio-economic resilience and strengthen the food and nutrition security in a country ravaged by years of violent conflict, hunger and epidemics. This new support complements the ongoing first phase of the Enhanced Rural Resilience in Yemen Programme – a flagship initiative supported by the EU since the beginning of the current crisis to sustain the capacity for resilience of ordinary Yemenis, whose livelihoods and community services have been devastated over the past three years.

These actions are in line with the Council Conclusions on Yemen of 25 June 2018, which put particular emphasis on the situation of vulnerable communities affected by the ongoing hostilities and the humanitarian crisis. Throughout 2018, the European Union also allocated €118 million in humanitarian aid for Yemen.

Original source: European Commission
Published on 27 November 2018