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UNFPA Yemen

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

How we work

UNFPA works in more than 150 countries and territories that are home to the vast majority of the world’s people.  

Guided by the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), UNFPA partners with governments, civil society and other agencies to advance its mission. 

The work of UNFPA is based on the premise that all human beings are entitled to equal rights and protections. We focus on women and young people because these are groups whose ability to exercise  their right to sexual and reproductive health is often compromised.

Our work on their behalf is informed by an understanding of population dynamics, human rights and cultural sensitivities.
 

UNFPA adopts a human rights-based approach throughout its work. This entails educating individuals and communities about their human rights, so that they can then demand the respect and basic services they are entitled to. This approach also involves empowering governments to fulfil these rights.

UNFPA focuses on women and young people, because these are the groups whose rights often go unfulfilled. Understanding local cultural complexities is crucial to the success of our work because many of the issues UNFPA deals with – including sexual and reproductive health and rights – are sensitive, sometimes taboo, subjects.

UNFPA in Yemen 

UNFPA has been working in Yemen since early 1970s. UNFPA’s 5th Country Programe for Yemen from 2012-2015 has been extended since 2016. The current country programme has been directed to a humanitarian response upon the activation of a Level 3 emergency response in Yemen on 1 July 2015. 

UNFPA’s response in Yemen aims at meeting the reproductive health needs of women and girls and ensuring that they are protected from gender-based violence, working in close partnership with local authorities, non-governmental partners and UN agencies across the country.

Strategic Priorities for UNFPA in Yemen 

1.     Strengthening health systems to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care and other lifesaving reproductive health services to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity

2.     Strengthening mechanisms to protect women and girls with emphasis on prevention and response to different forms of violence

3.     Reaching all newly displaced persons and most destitute returnees with emergency lifesaving packages through the Rapid Response Mechanism