Cairo, Sana’a 23 June 2022 – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSrelief) announced a contribution of US$ 2.5 million, supporting, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund to provide life-saving reproductive health services to the most vulnerable women and girls in Yemen.

The funding will help increase access to reproductive health services for women and girls, with support to 15 health facilities and 50 community midwives in southern parts of the country. This support aims to reach more than 350,000 women and girls in the next 12 months; enabling pregnant women to deliver safely, while addressing other reproductive health complications such as obstetric fistula.

“As the humanitarian crisis in Yemen enters its eighth year, the situation for women and girls of childbearing age is increasingly dire.'' said UNFPA Arab States Regional Director, Luay Shabaneh. “We thank KSrelief for recognizing the enormous needs for the health and protection of women and girls in Yemen and partnering with UNFPA to maintain vital reproductive health services.”

KSRelief has been a longstanding partner of UNFPA in Yemen, helping to reach hundreds of thousands of women and girls with reproductive health and protection information and services since 2015.

An estimated 8.1 million women and girls of childbearing age in Yemen require help accessing reproductive health services. Only 1 in 5 of the functioning health facilities provide maternal and child health services due to extreme shortages of essential medicines, supplies and specialized staff.

UNFPA urgently needs US$87 million over the next six months to fund its life-saving response for the reproductive health and protection of the affected women and girls.