The World Bank has approved additional funding to bolster health, nutrition, and water and sanitation services for millions of vulnerable Yemenis. The additional funds aim to address the pressing needs of the population, particularly in a time of ongoing challenges compounded by the civil war and COVID-19.
The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant amounting to US$150 million as a Second Additional Financing (AF2) for the Yemen Emergency Human Capital Project (YEHCP). The development objective of the YEHCP is to provide essential health, nutrition, water, and sanitation services to the population of Yemen.
The YEHCP focuses on four main areas:
- Improving healthcare and nutrition services at primary health care centers and hospitals.
- The YEHCP aims to improve healthcare and nutrition services by ensuring the delivery of minimum service package (MSP) services and strengthening the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare and community levels.
- Enhancing water supply and sanitation services and strengthening local systems.
- This will improve access to water supply and sanitation (WSS) and strengthen local systems to support and improve the provision of WSS services for the population of Yemen. This provision aims to rehabilitate medium to large WSS infrastructure, prevention, and response to communicable diseases, and strengthen the capacity of key local water and sanitation institutions at the decentralized level in elected urban, pre-urban, and rural areas.
- Providing comprehensive project support and management.
- The project support, management evaluation, and administration will support the implementation, administration, management, monitoring and evaluation, and environmental and social aspects of the project.
- Provide contingent emergency response.
In addition to the above objectives, some of the vital aspects that the enhancements YEHCP hopes to deliver includes bolstering surveillance, enhancing early detection services, and reinforcing the expertise of healthcare professionals.
The additional financing will also support the Yemen’s health information management system to collect quality data for health policy and service delivery. However, prospects for economic improvements in 2023 and beyond will depend on rapid advancements in the political and security situation and on a cessation of hostilities and political reconciliation allowing for a rebuilding of Yemen’s economy and social fabric.
