The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Yemen (GoY) signed today a USD 6 million project document titled "Early Recovery for the Livelihoods Sector of the Flood Affected Areas, in Hadhramout and Al-Mahara Governorates", in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
The initial focus of this project will be on rapid delivery of assistance to meet immediate and transitional recovery needs of the affected communities. Moreover, and from the outset, it will promote approaches and activities that go beyond initial recovery towards more sustained social and economic recovery.
In the long run, the project aims to lay the foundation for a long-term development of the floods affected areas, in Hadhramout and Al-Mahra Governorates. It will support GoY in enhancing its coordination capacity for the recovery of the local economic and social structures.
Taking into consideration that 75% of the affected population by the floods is comprised of farmers, rehabilitation of livelihood on the community level will be a key component of this project. In addition, it will give a particular focus on vulnerable groups such as women.
Related local authorities will play a key role in the recovery activities outlined in this project.
About Hadramout and Al-Mahara Floods:
On 24 - 25 October 2008, floods and heavy rains caused one of the most serious natural disasters in Yemen in the last decades. The most affected areas are in the Governorates of Hadhramout - both the valley (Wadi Hadhramout) and the coastal areas (Sahel Hadhramout) and Al-Mahra. 73 people were killed and over 3,000 families internally displaced, corresponding to 20,000 - 25,000 persons. The floods caused significant damage to houses, infrastructure and the agricultural sector destroying or considerably affecting the livelihoods of about 700,000 people.
The Project Document was signed by H.E. Hisham Sharaf Abdullah, Vice Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and Ms. Pratibha Mehta, UNDP Resident Representative. It was attended by:
Mr. Selva Ramachandran, UNDP Country Director, Mr. Mohammad Naciri, UNDP Deputy Country Director, officials from the Yemeni Government, UNDP, and others.