The latest initiative will help improve the lives of over 4,600 vulnerable and displaced individuals in Yemen.
The Qatar Red Crescent Society aims to improve the lives of 4,683 vulnerable and displaced individuals in Yemen through the launch of a project, in partnership with its Yemen counterpart, with a budget of $416,344.
The initiative spans Shabwah, Hadramaut, Al-Mahrah, Hajjah, and Sanaa.
The focus will be on providing vocational training and essential resources to breadwinners in 669 families, enabling them to generate income through various professions, including tailoring, fishing, beekeeping, livestock herding, and the maintenance of solar panels and smartphones.
“Today, we are distributing 111 sewing machines to poor families and persons with special needs in Ataq District. The beneficiaries had already received training in sewing and tailoring using these machines, for the benefit of their families,” Ali Al Kindi, Assistant Undersecretary for Shabwa Governorate, expressed during the inauguration of phase one, the statement published on Monday read.
This project follows QRCS’s successful completion of a similar initiative benefiting 4,270 internally displaced people in Aden, Lahij, and Abyan. The total cost amounted to $278,600.
In the last phase of the project, 610 trainees were equipped with income-generating resources, including 60 motorcycles, 100 solar panel maintenance toolkits, 100 mobile phone maintenance toolkits, 250 heads of sheep, 50 sewing machines, and 50 hairdressing toolkits.
Yemen’s nine-year war
Such humanitarian initiatives come as Yemen continues to battle the world’s worst humanitarian crisis following a nine-year brutal war, with an estimated 4.5 million of the population still displaced.
A total of 21.6 million people – two-thirds of Yemen’s population – need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
Since 2015, Yemen has seen fighting between a Saudi-led military coalition and Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The war has killed an estimated 233,000 people, according to UN figures, though the death toll remains disputed.
Yemen witnessed its first period of peace in April 2022 following a UN-brokered ceasefire that expired in October of the same year when all sides failed to agree on an extension.
The truce was the first since 2016 and led to a 60% decrease in civilian casualties, as well as an almost 50% drop in displacements.
Yemen has since experienced a period of relative calm despite the expiration of the ceasefire, especially amid talks between Saudi and Omani delegations with Houthi rebel officials.
The race for peace in Yemen appeared to gain momentum earlier this year after a China-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which led to the resumption of relations between the former regional rivals.
A Houthi delegation visited the Saudi capital of Riyadh in late September for five days of talks, marking the first such official visit to the kingdom since the war broke out.
