In Yemen, your support is reaching thousands of people with urgent, life-saving care

Just over a year ago, your incredible generosity helped us launch a brand-new programme in Yemen – and what we have achieved together so far is nothing short of life-changing.

As Concern’s Country Director for Yemen, I would like to say a big thank you. I’ve seen first-hand the impact your support has had on the ground for the thousands of families who have been devastated by Yemen’s spiralling food insecurity and malnutrition crisis. 

After a decade of conflict, more than half of the country’s population are in need of humanitarian assistance and, most critically, in some areas malnutrition among children is at emergency levels for the very first time.

That’s why Concern is here. And it’s why, thanks to your donations, thousands of families have been reached with life-saving support over the past year.

Thanks to the Concern community, remarkable change is happening, and for that I am so grateful. 

To families here in Yemen suffering from terrifying conflict and hunger, we can say, “Yemen, you are not forgotten. We are with you.”

I’d like to explain how important it is for me to be able to say those words today. 

The economy, and so much of Yemen’s basic infrastructure, has been destroyed by 10 years of conflict. Many families have no work and no income but, at the same time, chronic food shortages mean prices continue to soar.

Right now, over five million children under the age of five need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. This shocking reality is why we must continue our work.

Thanks to your generosity over the past year, we’ve been helping to run five health clinics, which are providing vital care in one of Yemen’s most vulnerable districts. 

Your donations have meant that the staff are paid and the clinics are stocked with medicines and equipment. 

In fact, in the first half of 2024, these clinics provided care to more than 15,000 people. In the clinics, women can access pre- and postnatal care, babies are safely delivered by skilled birth attendants, and children are screened for malnutrition.

Crucially, more than 850 children have received the urgent treatment they needed to survive deadly malnutrition.

You’ve also helped our teams support 45 incredible Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) - local women who have been trained and supplied with medical essentials. 

By visiting homes, undertaking health checks and referring children to Concern-supported health clinics, CHVs have become a critical part of the new programme work you’re making possible, and more than 6,000 children across two districts have been screened for malnutrition. 

In Yemen, five million children under the age of five need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. Rima was one of them.

Like many others, the conflict had left Rima’s father unable to find regular work. With less and less food on the table, and despite all her parents’ efforts, little Rima grew life-threateningly weak. “Rima was often sick,” her mother had told us. “She didn’t sleep well.”

Thankfully, the family were visited by Nabilah, a CHV, who referred Rima to a Concern-supported health clinic.

It is hard to imagine the grief her parents felt when they were told their little girl was dangerously underweight. At a mere 7.1kg, Rima was suffering from severe malnutrition and was in need of urgent medical treatment. 

Through our new programme, Rima received that treatment. “My child is getting healthy,” Rima’s mother told us. “There is no more crying all the time.”

Not only did Rima recover from life-threatening malnutrition, her mother also received follow-up care to support Rima’s continued recovery: “Now, the volunteer visits my home weekly. She guides me on breastfeeding and good hygiene. I know to visit the doctor when I see a danger sign.”

Rima’s story is just one of many I could share with you from our first 365 days in Yemen. 

We’re reaching more and more malnourished children every day, and the work does not stop there. 

Generosity like yours has also been key in keeping communities protected against the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera. 

It’s meant that we’ve already distributed 650 cholera prevention kits, with water buckets and antibacterial soap, raised awareness of hygiene and installed emergency latrines in displacement camps. 

All of this is possible thanks to our Concern community. Together, we can continue to reach some of the most vulnerable communities and children at risk in Yemen, despite the ongoing crisis. 

It’s a huge achievement, but we’re just at the beginning of our new programme in Yemen. Half of Yemen’s population is still in need of humanitarian support to survive severe hunger and the growing threat of disease outbreaks. 

I know that, together, we can continue to make a real impact. If you can, please give a donation today to help more children like Rima get the treatment they need and protect more communities from preventable diseases.

Thank you.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.