Yemen

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On 1 November 2012, the Yemeni Republic joined the SUN Movement with a letter of commitment from HE Mohammed Salem Basondwah, the Prime Minister. At the time, attention had been brought to the scale of the problem of malnutrition when an emergency response was launched due to conflict in the north of the country, causing internal displacement of the population. The high level commitment of Yemen to address malnutrition issues was seen with the immediate appointment of the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation as the SUN Government Focal Point.

Progress

Bringing people together

84% 2019

Bringing people together

Coherent policy and legal framework

75% 2019

Coherent policy and legal framework

Aligning programs around a Common Results Framework

85% 2019

Aligning programs around a Common Results Framework

Financial tracking and resource mobilization

78% 2019

Financial tracking and resource mobilization

TOTAL

81% 2019

TOTAL

UN emergency funding released to help stave off famine in high-risk countries

November 24, 2020

Optional

FAO and WFP warn of rising levels of acute hunger with potential risk of famine in four SUN countries

November 6, 2020

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Malnutrition surges among young children in Yemen as conditions worsen

October 28, 2020

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Yemen sees return to alarming levels of food insecurity

August 21, 2020

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Yemeni children face deadly hunger and aid shortages as COVID-19 pandemic spreads

June 26, 2020

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WHO and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation working together to fight malnutrition in Yemen

October 10, 2019

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Put Food Security and Nutrition in the Middle East and North Africa at the Heart of Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals!

September 12, 2017 0

Making sure no woman, man or child goes hungry has, for decades, been one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Although many solutions have been found in various corners of the world – including across the Middle East and North Africa – hundreds of million people globally still do not receive enough energy, through their diet, to live a healthy and active life

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Scaling up nutrition services and maintaining service during conflict in Yemen: Lessons from the Hodeidah sub-national Nutrition Cluster

June 20, 2016

An ENN article by Dr. Saja Abdullah, Dr. Rasha Al Ardi, and Dr. Rajia Sharhan. What we know: Yemen is the poorest Arab nation, embroiled in lengthy political crisis and ongoing conflict. Malnutrition is a major and chronic problem; international humanitarian access is compromised. What...

Scaling Up Nutrition In Practice, Issue 4: The Contribution of Agriculture and Social Protection to Improving Nutrition

September 25, 2015

Launch September 2015: The fourth Scaling Up Nutrition: In Practice brief focuses on how agriculture, food systems and social protection schemes are contributing to scaling up nutrition in SUN Countries. Representatives from six SUN Countries share their accounts of how food, agriculture and social protection stakeholders engage in...

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Nutrition situation

46.4%

Under Five Stunting

16.4%

Under Five Wasting

2.5%

Under Five Overweight

9.7%

0-5 Months Exclusive Breastfeeding

69.6%

Woman Anaemia 15-49 years

17.4%

Adolescent Overweight Male

19.3%

Adolescent Overweight Female

33.2%

Adult Overweight Male

32.1%

Adult Overweight Female

12.5%

Adult Obesity Male

23%

Adult Obesity Female

12.6%

Adult Diabetes Male

10.1%

Adult Diabetes Female

Nutrition Data Definitions

Strategic objectives

In the second quarter of 2017, the multi-stakeholder platform (MSP) in Yemen was expanded to comprise new partners in its Steering Committee, including academic and civil society organisations focusing on women’s empowerment and community participation at the grassroots level. In 2017, new partnerships were established with institutions such as the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Although the SUN focal point is a member of the Nutrition Cluster, comprising UN agencies and civil society organisations, the National Secretariat has not experienced the optimal level of coordination across other sectors due to the ongoing crisis. However, during the reporting period, concerted efforts have been made to better coordinate amongst all stakeholders and sectors including clusters on food security, nutrition, education, WASH, and other stakeholders.

Last updated: November 2017

2016

A SUN Movement Steering Committee exists and a Technical Committee was created in April 2015. The SUN National Secretariat convenes ad hoc meetings despite the lack of regular get-togethers due to the ongoing conflict. The Secretariat has been active in monitoring the implementation of different sectors. A strategic shift of support has been seen: most nutrition initiatives fall under the umbrella of humanitarian emergency programmes. The Secretariat is also a part of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification technical committee.

Last updated: December 2016

2015

The Yemeni Government commitment to address the underlying causes of under-nutrition in the country is reflected at the highest level. This can be seen with the decree issued in2012 by the Prime Minister which advises line ministries to address nutrition as a priority in their respective plans. A High Council for Food Security, chaired by the Prime Minister has been established and supported by a multi-sectoral National SUN Steering Committee steering committee. The Steering Committee includes representatives from the ministries of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC), Health, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Sanitation and Education. It also includes the representatives from United Nations (UN) agencies, donors, civil society, academia, and the private sector. The Steering Committee has been institutionalised and chaired by the Vice Minister MOPIC.

Last updated: October 2015

A review of whether nutrition-related policies and laws are enacted and effective has not taken place during the reporting period. Due to the ongoing conflict, humanitarian assistance remains the primary focus. Government agencies lack the operational costs to review or update any laws or regulations. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has monitored several trade laws and regulations in 2017 relating to the monitoring of quality of foods for children and their conformity with international standards. The 4th Five Year Plan for the Agriculture Sector (2012-2016) was assessed in 2017 by the Ministry of Agriculture, in a bid to improve its coverage.

Last updated: November 2017

2016

No advocacy and communication strategy or plan has been created. However, during the reporting period, sporadic advocacy activities by stakeholders have been held to implement the Multi-Sectoral Plan. One good example is the level of coordination for the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, which has been approved and endorsed. Yemen has some of legislation on nutrition, mainly relating to maternity protection and breastfeeding and food fortification with micronutrients.

Last updated: December 2016

2015

As identified in the NNMSAP (2015-2019), each relevant sector will review existing polices and legislations to ensure that they are nutrition sensitive and any gaps are addressed. Current nutritionsensitive polices and strategies that are already in place include: The Food Security Policy and Strategy (2011), the National Agriculture Sector Strategy (2012-2016), the National Fisheries Strategy (2012-2015), the Social Welfare Fund Legislation (2008). The existing national legislation addresses salt iodisation, sugar and flour fortification (since 1996) and the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes (BMS) since 2002.

Last updated: October 2015

As a result of the newly established partnership with IFPRI, stakeholders will benefit from the available documents, plans, policies, and programmes who currently solely rely on needs assessment reports. This will further help in listing nutrition projects, with nutrition-sensitive and specific indicators and other relevant data, as this information will be updated regularly and made publicly available. MQSUN has been re-engaged to revisit the priorities of the National Plan of Action for Nutrition.

Last updated: November 2017

2016

A coordination mechanism on nutrition exists via the UN clusters, as per the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan and the `Who is Where, When, doing What’ (4Ws) mapping. A survey assessing nutrition programmes has been implemented and analysed. The SUN Plan was recently reviewed and is seen to have clear objectives and division of responsibilities. Although information management for the SUN Secretariat is not in place, there is access to information through other sources including the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system.

Last updated: December 2016

2015

The National Nutrition Multi-Sectoral Action Plan (NNMSAP) was finalised and endorsed by the ministerial committee in 2014. An operational is being prepared in order to implement the sectoral programs. Due to the on-going conflict, progress has stalled and progress on the implementation of plan has hindered and delayed.
For nutrition specific programs, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MOPHP) is extensively engaged in with UN partners and civil society organisations to implement the programs, in particular, for the populations affected by emergencies.

UNICEF jointly with the MOPHP and civil society organisations started to implement a comprehensive community based stunting prevention program along with a community led total sanitation program. This was being implemented in 19 districts with high prevalence of stunting and wasting in Taiz, Hodeida and Saada`a however these activities have also been stalled because of the ongoing-conflict.

The Government of Yemen, with support from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and the World Bank, is implementing a food security program in the food insecure governorates.

In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization with support from the European Union, established a Food Security Information System (FSIS) at MOPIC in 2014. The FSIS system is designed to collect information on both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive indicators along with the food security indicators.

Last updated: October 2015

Although there is significant funding from donors and international organisations towards nutrition in Yemen, which are mainly targeted towards the humanitarian response, there are no contributions from the Government due to the ongoing conflict.

Last updated: November 2017

2016

The SUN Plan includes budget estimates for each sector, although the sectors’ budget estimates do not necessarily cover all aspects of the Plan due to the crisis. All SUN stakeholders have reviewed their contributions to this Plan. Also, the Humanitarian Response Plan covers nutrition, health and WASH as key standalone components. Sectoral financial reports are submitted to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation regularly. There has however been no increase in the national budget for nutrition because of the crisis.

Last updated: December 2016

2015

Costing of the NNMSP was completed with technical support from MQSUN and the SUN Movement Secretariat.
The current conflict in the country is hampering progress on the ground and the pace at which these commitments were expected to be honored. The Government of Yemen is committed to establishing new budget lines in relevant ministries for nutrition programming and to increase human resource for nutrition by 10-20% as a minimum, and publish national spending publicly.

Last updated: October 2015