Yemen

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WPHF is filling crucial funding gaps for local women’s organizations in Yemen, supporting them to strengthen the political and socio-economic participation of women and girls in forced displacement.

Yemen Call for Proposals - Round 2: Open

Our Work

In Yemen, WPHF is channeling urgently-needed financing to grassroots women’s organizations mobilizing to promote the socio-economic recovery and political participation of forcibly displaced women and girls in peacebuilding contexts, as well as reinforce the institutional capacity of civil society organizations working with these groups.

Our Partners

WPHF is supporting 12 projects implemented by 17 women-led and women’s rights civil society organizations in Yemen: 

Peacebuilding and Economic Recovery

  • University Youth Foundation for Development (UYFD) on a project to sustain its work promoting the meaningful participation of women and youth in political processes through capacity building activities — including how to write gender-sensitive projects, furnish an incubator for youth and women’s initiatives, and develop future projects on the protection and economic empowerment of displaced women. 
  • Alzahra Women’s Foundation on a project to sustain its activities promoting women’s rights in Yemen and build its capacities on displaced women’s and girls’ protection measures, data collection, risk management, and emergency strategies.  
  • Angela Development and Humanitarian Response Organization on a project to support the development of its institutional and programmatic expertise and enhance the quality of its programs focused on displaced women’s and girls’ mental health, as well as their political and economic participation.  
  • Itar Foundation for Social Development —together with Thakera for Media Production, Yemeni Women Union, Youth Without Borders Organization for Development, Enough for Humanitarian Protection, and Wa3i Foundation — on a project that will create and pilot a Humanitarian-Peace Dialogue. Through this initiative, the visions and needs of displaced Yemeni women and girls will be promoted and integrated within the different tracks of the peace process and within the strategies of humanitarian organizations.
  • Youth Leadership Development Foundation (YLDF) on a project that seeks to economically empower forcibly displaced women and girls and support their integration in host communities through the provision of capacity building trainings, technical support, small grants, and financial support.
  • YODET Technology for Humanity on a project that supports the development of displaced young women’s vocational skills to create social entrepreneurial opportunities — using technological innovation for economic and social issues through an extensive training and mentorship program that will realize participants’ entrepreneurial projects. 
  • Social Development Hodeidah Girls Foundation (SDHGF) on a project aimed at improving the socioeconomic recovery and political participation of forcibly displaced women and girls in peacebuilding contexts by assisting them to find new income sources, improving their access to job opportunities, implementing vocational and digital skills training, and providing small grants to develop their own business plans.  
  • Yemen Peace School Organization (YPS) on a project focused on supporting women in forced displacement. The initiative will educate local women’s CSOs and women’s groups in peacebuilding and community dialogues to engage them as actors of development, peace, and social inclusion in their communities.  
  • Marib Girls Foundation on a project that assists forcibly displaced women in setting up their own small business projects, provides small grants to support them, and increases displaced women leader’s participation in peacebuilding efforts through workshops on peace negotiations, advocacy, and peaceful activism.

COVID-19 Emergency Response Window

  • SOS Center for Youth Capabilities Development on a project to promote women’s awareness of UNSCR1325, leadership and community participation in all decision-making processes in response to COVID-19, creating positive mechanisms for partnership and coordination between civil society organizations in preventing and responding to the pandemic.
  • Ana Ahaq Foundation to sustain its work protecting women and girls during conflict, preventing SGBV, facilitating women and girl IDPs’ access to health services and empowering them economically through the development of its institutional capacities, including in accounting and human resource systems, as well as GBV case management.
  • Alf Ba’a Civilization and Coexistance Organization on a project to establish a women’s network in Aden, Lahaj, Abyan and Al Dalaa governorates of 20 women-led or women’s rights local CBOs affected by COVID-19 that are contributing to peacebuilding.

Explore our full list of WPHF COVID-19 Emergency Response Window partners around the world:

COVID-19 Emergency Response Window Projects

Background

Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab States region, is facing an intractable war and humanitarian crisis. According to UN OCHA, more than 23.4 million people (almost three-quarters of the population) need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2022 — an increase of 13% from what was already a frightening figure in 2021. The situation of women and girls in Yemen is extremely challenging, with conflict adding layers of vulnerability and exacerbating existing gender inequalities. In 2021, Yemen ranked second-to-last in the Global Gender Gap Index, only better than Afghanistan.

As a result of prolonged conflict, insurgency, and environmental disasters, over 4.3 million Yemenis have been internally displaced as of June 2022, 79% of whom are women and children. Yemen also hosts the world’s second largest refugee population from Somalia, with around 250,000 people having fled the brutal conflict there.

Women and girls who live in camps or host communities are among the most vulnerable displaced people. Their right to participate in political and economic decision-making is undermined by social, cultural and legal barriers; their lack of familiarity with their new environments; psychosocial stress caused by traumatic experiences; economic deprivation; and lack of decent livelihood opportunities. Crisis and conflict contexts also increase displaced women’s and girls’ risk of violence due to the breakdown of social structures, lack of law enforcement and prevalence of harmful gender norms and practices. Conflict-induced poverty and food insecurities further exasperate the plight of displaced women and girls, and the fragile security context makes it challenging to provide adequate humanitarian services.

The international community often perceives displaced women and girls as victims and survivors of violence – frequently of sexual violence and abuse. Yet, women and girls in forced displacement play a key role in securing the survival of their families and communities, frequently overcoming difficult situations and regaining control of their lives. Many of them are empowered actors whose participation in social, economic and political decision-making is a crucial prerequisite to building peace and gender-responsive recovery — both in Yemen and around the world.

Our Vision

In Yemen, WPHF aims to ensure the financing and coordination of local civil society organizations working on the front lines of conflict and crises — empowering women and girls to become leaders and key humanitarian actors on the road to sustainable peace.