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the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen: Challenges and Prospects of Humanitarian Response concluded its sessions and workshops.

The conference was organized by QC in partnership with 13 humanitarian, regional and international organizations. It was attended by more than 90 humanitarian, regional and international organizations; and more than 150 experts and specialists in the fields of relief and humanitarian response.

The total sum of donations which were received reached 223,000,000 USD; 118,000,000 of which were from Qatari donors. QC donated 100,000,000 USD, the International Islamic Charity Organization in Kuwait donated 100,000,000 USD, the Qatar Red Crescent Society donated 10,000,000 USD, Silatech donated 5,000,000 USD, Reach Out to Asia donated 2,000,000 USD and Human Appeal donated 5,000,000 USD.

In the closing statement, the conference announced about the inauguration of a group of initiatives that cover 8 essential fields: coordination, protection, health, education, water and sanitation, food and nutrition, shelter, in-kind supplies and livelihoods.

Through their statement, the participants emphasized on the importance of cooperating with specialized governmental offices and the importance of activating the role of and empowering the local civic organizations and departments of Yemen. Such organizations would effectively contribute to offering better humanitarian aid.

The participants also highlighted the need for comprehensive coordination so that the efforts exerted on humanitarian response in Yemen would not go in vain. There is also a deep need for international coordination and coordination with the Yemeni government. It is also important to commend all the initiatives which contribute to achieving a better humanitarian response in Yemen.

The participants thanked the initiators for organizing such conference; they also thanked QC for hosting the events and for being very hospitable.

Coordination

The conference issued a group of recommendations regarding different fields. As for coordination, the conference called for the involvement of the different regional governmental organizations (Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council) in the mechanisms of coordination and information exchange.

It also called for reinforcing the participation of the Gulf's non-governmental organizations in the coordination mechanism in Yemen. Furthermore, it called for praising the role of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center in reinforcing such participation.

It recommended enhancing the available coordination mechanisms to avoid repetition, and ensure a more effective and efficient response to the joint work. It stressed on the importance of making the utmost use of the provided information, experiences, and plans through applying and supporting the United Nations’ coordination mechanism. In addition, the conference encouraged investing all the efforts in assessing the needs; unlike the multi-sector evaluation prepared by QC. It advised that the donors in the Gulf region would clarify their expectations from the coordination mechanism before agreeing to any donation, and demanded developing the Yemeni humanitarian organizations’ capacities regarding the functioning of the humanitarian system.

Protection

In the closing statement, the conference called for respecting humanitarian principles and the minimum standards of humanitarian work in all different fields.

It recommended applying 'Do No Harm' principle while offering humanitarian services for the protection of beneficiaries and humanitarian actors.

It recommended raising awareness about International Humanitarian Law and encouraged following its regulations. It also recommended raising the awareness of humanitarian organizations in Yemen about the conditions and requirements for protecting the beneficiaries and the humanitarian actors.

Health

The conference called for taking care of primary health and the health of mothers and children.

It also called for supporting preventive healthcare through prioritizing vaccination programs.

It encouraged finding creative solutions that suit the nature of the current challenges; one of the solutions could be having mobile clinics.

The conference stressed on the importance of rebuilding the health system in viable areas. It also called for prioritizing health management in cases of emergency; mainly human resources.

Education

For education, the conference called for prioritizing the education sector to save the coming the generations; especially that the crisis has been going for long.

It recommended for the reconstruction of the educational system in the areas where the required objective conditions are available.

It called for making extreme use of the governmental educational staff, employing it in operating the educational process, and for inventing creative educational solutions that suit the nature of the crisis; for example, using tents as temporary schools.

The conference stressed the importance of mobilizing the local community to effectively participate in developing and sustaining the educational sector.

Water and Sanitation

As for the field of water and sanitation, the conference recommended mobilizing the local community to actively participate in developing the water and sanitation field and ensuring its sustainability.

It also called for operating broken water sources at the highest power possible and the soonest; and for reoperating the sanitation system to protect the environment and prevent diseases.

It stressed the importance of using an alternate source of energy to operate water pumps.

In the fields of food and nutrition, the conference called for providing food aid to the beneficiaries, especially in areas that are hard to reach.

The conference recommended offering monetary aid to the needy families who could use the money to buy food supplies.

It also called for supporting families in the field of house farming to help them secure their own food. The conference emphasized the importance of reinforcing health centers established to fight malnutrition.

Shelter

In the field of shelter and in-kind supplies, the conference encouraged the local community to effectively participate in the efforts exerted to provide dignified housing for needy families. It also called for seeking assistance from local administrations to fix shelter problems.

The conference recommended helping the needy families in rebuilding and reforming their destroyed houses; and helping them in receiving necessary in-kind supplies.

Livelihood:

The conference called for supporting young producers in the fields of production; mainly the projects which would reinforce food security and provide an income for the beneficiaries. The fields included fishing, agriculture, poultry and livestock.

It also called for providing small loans services that suit the situation and the crisis. The financing services should be sustainable.

It recommended activating the productive cycle and encouraging economic empowerment where available.

In addition, it called for making use of the conventions of Yemeni economy in reinforcing the production cycle and resources distribution.

Doha hosted the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen Conference which was held in February 22-24. It was hosted by QC and organized by High Relief Committee in Yemen, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (Saudi), International Committee of the Red Cross (Switzerland), Qatar Charity Society (Qatar), International Humanitarian City (Emirates), International Medical Corps (Britain), International Islamic Charity Organization (Kuwait), IHH Turkey, Start Network (Britain) and ICVA (Switzerland).

Around 150 participants attended the conference representing 90 different governmental, nongovernmental, local, regional and international organizations.

Since the outbreak of the crisis, this conference is considered to be the first of its kind. The organizers saw the deep need for drawing attention towards the crisis in Yemen, especially that it has been going for six years. The number of people who need help rose to 21,000,000 people out of a population of not more than 26,000,000 people. Estimations show that Yemen has the least number of available resources in comparison with the size of needs of its people; especially that most of the basic service systems are falling apart. Some of these services are education, health, water, sanitation and others.

Through their speeches during the closing session, the organizations' representatives and organizers emphasized the success of the conference in highlighting the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, identifying the mechanisms of coordination and evaluation and following up with relief work. It also succeeded in inaugurating distinguished initiatives for humanitarian interv

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