SAVING YEMEN: UMR TEAMS UP TO LAUNCH HIGHLY COORDINATED RESPONSE
Meeting health and nutrition needs are top priorities for new Humanitarian Alliance for Yemen
Washington (August 14, 2019) – UMR has joined with MedGlobal, Project HOPE, and Pure Hands to form the Humanitarian Alliance for Yemen to launch a closely coordinated, holistic response to the continually worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The four U.S.-based nonprofit organizations will leverage their expertise and resources to deliver humanitarian and development assistance to the people of Yemen and address the needs of millions of people in rapid decline after five years of conflict.
“The crisis in Yemen is widely seen as the world’s most dire humanitarian catastrophe, and we must act with even greater urgency to save the millions of Yemeni women, children and men who struggle each day to stay alive, safe and healthy,” says the alliance. “Our goal is to ensure we deliver services that complement each other and ultimately help people recover and rebuild faster.”
The Humanitarian Alliance for Yemen will work to engage local Yemeni organizations to focus on hardest-hit and so far unreached or under-served communities where malnutrition and disease are rampant – delivering food, medical supplies and medicines, in addition to providing emergency and other critical medical services. In the longer term, with an improved security environment, the alliance will aim to empower Yemeni communities to support themselves with sustainable programs focusing on rebuilding the health infrastructure and the capacity of Yemeni health workers.
“Our organizations have done tremendous work individually in Yemen, but the situation is too dire for any one organization to create an impact. UMR has been working diligently to provide medical equipment and services to tackle the cholera outbreak and minimize the acute malnutrition plaguing the children of Yemen. We look forward to creating an even greater impact through the alliance,” says Dr. Abed Ayoub, President & CEO of UMR.
Now in its sixth year, the conflict in Yemen has pushed the country to near economic collapse and grave human catastrophe. Today about 80% of the population is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and about one-third – 10 million people – cannot find enough food to eat. Nearly 18 million Yemenis do not have access to clean water and sanitation, triggering the worst cholera outbreak in recorded history, with more than 1 million cases reported in the last two years alone. Fighting, shelling and airstrikes have caused early 100 civilian casualties per week, and tens of thousands of families have had to flee their homes.
About the Alliance Members
UMR’s health, education and food security programs aim to reduce the suffering of the most marginalized and vulnerable groups through immediate relief and development projects that provide tools and resources needed to increase their resilience and self-reliance.
MedGlobal provides sustainable health care services to the refugees, the displaced and the most vulnerable in crisis areas and low resources countries worldwide by deploying diverse short-term volunteer medical missions and partnering with local organizations.
Project HOPE operates around the world wherever the need is greatest, working side-by-side with health care workers and their communities, addressing the greatest public health challenges to enable people to live their best lives. We respond to disasters and health crises and stay on in communities long after disaster strikes to help find solutions to epidemics and any other neglected health needs.
Pure Hands focuses on alleviating poverty, providing economic opportunity, and delivering emergency relief. We work together to serve the larger community and to support the poor and most vulnerable groups, reducing their suffering through well-planned and comprehensive programs in health, food security, WASH, capacity building, livelihoods, and disaster preparedness and response. Our in-kind donations, in collaboration with a number of U.S.-based partners, have exceeded $18 million over the past three years alone, delivering health supplies, equipment and medicine to a number of hard to reach and under siege Yemeni localities.
Contact:
Nagwa Abdallah
Communications Officer, UMR
nabdallah@umrelief.org
(202) 370-6963 x112
