Yemen Humanitarian Fund in brief 2021 [EN/AR]

Who we are

The Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) is an OCHA-managed Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF) under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator that makes funding directly available to humanitarian partners operating in Yemen, enabling them to deliver timely and effective life-saving assistance to people who need it most. The OCHA Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU) manages the day-to-day operations of the YHF.

How we work

The YHF receives unearmarked contributions from donors throughout the year. Funds are allocated to eligible partners through an inclusive and transparent process.
There are two types of YHF allocations: standard allocations and reserve allocations. The Fund holds a standard allocation once or twice a year through a call for proposals to support collectively identified needs in support of strategic objectives and priorities set out in the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP). Reserve allocations are launched as needed in response to sudden onset humanitarian needs and specific crises.
The Humanitarian Coordinator, in consultation with the YHF Advisory Board, determines the strategic direction of the Fund and the amount available for each allocation. OCHA and the Cluster Coordinators support the prioritization exercise to ensure that priorities reflect needs on the ground. This approach ensures that funding is prioritized at the local level by those closest to people in need, which empowers the leadership of the humanitarian operation and fosters collaboration and collective ownership of the emergency response.
Project proposals are equally assessed by an inclusive strategic and technical review committee consisting of relevant Cluster Coordinators, UN agencies, NGOs and OCHA based on a pre-defined scorecard. Funding levels and assurance mechanisms applicable to each successful project are guided by the partner’s risk level, which is determined by a capacity assessment and their past performance.

Our priorities

In 2021, the Humanitarian Coordinator and the Advisory Board agreed for the YHF to focus on the following priorities, leveraging on the inclusive nature of the Fund and its extensive partnerships with local actors:

• Responding to acute vulnerabilities as identified in the YHRP. This includes emergency life-saving assistance and protection to people most at risk.

• Covering critical gaps with a focus on hard-to-reach areas. In support of this, the YHF allocated funding in 2021 to projects that address strategic needs identified in cluster strategies, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

• Leaving no-one behind by focusing on a range of needs and vulnerabilities specific to different population groups. In support of this, the YHF ensured through its 2021 allocations that funding went to marginalized people in most acute need, including minority groups, people most at risk, people excluded from services and with a view to promote gender equality.