Amran is a small city about fifty kilometres north-west of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a.
More than 58,000 internally displaced people are living in Amran, according to one report from the Task Force on Population Movements. This is the highest number of displaced people in the country. Amran is one of the poorest areas, with very low health indicators.
IPPF's local member association is providing essential life-saving services to vulnerable groups. These are people are at risk of sexual violence and fatal illness and diseases. The Yemeni Association for Reproductive Health (YARH) is IPPF's accredited partner on the ground.It is ensuring help is prioritized for women and girls, especially those who are pregnant.
YARH, with Yemen's Ministry of Public Health Population, deployed a mobile medical team to Amran between September and November 2016. They treated approximately 600 internally displaced people, more than two-thirds of them women who mostly received pre and postnatal care,counselling,contraception and essential medical treatment.
The mobile team was made up of a female medical doctor and two midwives, two coordinators and a driver. They targeted displaced people in the three most remote areas: Khamir, Raydah and Kharif.
With support from UNFPA and the Yemei Women Union, we distributed a total of 1,000 dignity kits in Yemen. We also distributed clean delivery kits to pregnant women in need.
A low take up of family planning among these women is because of both a lack of awareness and a lack of access to reproductive health services. In our raising awareness sessions we placed great importance on child spacing and how this can improve maternal and child health. We also reached just under 2000 people in displaced communities, with information on breast feeding, nutrition and hygiene.
In other initiatives on the ground, YARH is also working together with people living with HIV and up-skilling service providers on delivering contraceptive implants in 8 of the 20 governorates of Yemen. Complimenting these activities are empowerment projects targeting youth friendly centers, youth leadership programmes and increasing access to comprehensive sexuality education.
Conditions are extremely tough – and dangerous – but we remain committed to serving the people of Yemen and doing all we can for their sexual and reproductive health.