At least 4.5 million people have been internally displaced as a direct result of Yemen’s conflict.

A water and sanitation services project is set to be implemented in Yemen following an agreement signed by Qatar Charity and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Yemen.

The agreement also provides access to health services in the governorates of Taiz and Ibb, at a total cost exceeding five million Qatari riyals.

The signing of this agreement comes as an extension of previous efforts to provide emergency response to the most vulnerable groups of displaced persons, host communities, and those affected by the crisis in Yemen.

The initiative will see the establishment of two water collection tanks and the monitoring of water quality in eight wells in Ibb and nine in Taiz.

A total of 35 toilets will also be constructed. The ultimate goal is to help out the displaced populations in Ibb and Taiz governorates by providing them with essential water and sanitation services.

In total, the project is expected to directly benefit 118,721 individuals. The same agreement also includes the provision of crucial health services.

The funding will cover the operational expenses of nine healthcare facilities in Taiz and Ibb, including staff salaries, the acquisition of medicines, medical supplies, laboratory resources, and transportation costs for emergency situations.

The project will ensure that approximately 61,625 displaced individuals have access to primary healthcare services.

During the years 2020 and 2021, Qatar Charity had already entered into three cooperative agreements with OCHA, each exceeding £1 million, to drive projects in the healthcare, water, and environmental sanitation sectors in three Yemeni governorates of Ibb, Al Hudaydah, and Hajjah.

In partnership with OCHA and the Yemeni Ministry of Health, Qatar Charity distributed life-saving medicines and medical supplies to eight healthcare centres and units.

The charity organisation provided incentives to over 80 healthcare professionals in both the cities of Hajjah and Hodeidah, handing out necessary aid to around 121,000 displaced Yemenis and the host community.

Cost of war

Since 2015, Yemen has been riddled in a deadly war between the Saudi coalition and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels following the latter’s capture of the capital Sanaa.

An estimated 158,000 people have been killed during the conflict, per figures published by the United Nations. At least 4.5 million people have been internally displaced as a direct result of the conflict.

However, Yemen has experienced a period of relative calm this year following talks between Saudi and Omani delegations with Houthi rebel officials in the capital Sanaa

Despite the lull in violence, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen has persisted and thousands of Yemenis with kidney failure are suffering from the “hidden cost of war”.

A shocking 25% of dialysis patients in Yemen have died every year since the beginning of the conflict, per figures published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2018.

Humanitarian organisations around the world have increased their calls on the international community to back their operations on the ground in Yemen, where more than 21 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance and 17.3 million suffering from acute food insecurity.

According to the UN, Yemen’s humanitarian response plan has only received 31% of the required $4.34 billion.

In July, the World Food Programme announced the suspension of its malnutrition prevention intervention in Yemen starting from August citing “critical funding shortfalls”.

The UN warned that Yemen “continues to face a protracted political, humanitarian and developmental crisis”. The intergovernmental organisation called on all sides to “take concrete steps” to end Yemen’s war, noting ongoing sporadic fighting and exchanges of gunfire in some areas.

“Against this backdrop, there have been public threats to return to war. This rhetoric is not conducive to maintaining a fruitful mediation environment,” UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg said.