ReliefWeb

Foreword

More than two years of conflict have devastated Yemen. An estimated 18.8 million people, or 66 per cent of the population, are in need of assistance, including 10.3 million persons who are in acute need. In this challenging environment, the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) has been, and continues to be, an invaluable funding mechanism which strengthens the humanitarian response to affected people by utilising the strategic and flexible funding windows available in a timely manner.

I believe that the YHF represents the voices of the humanitarian community as a whole and remains a shared funding mechanism. We have worked hard in 2016 to ensure that the FUnd is as transparent and inclusive as possible, acting in complementarity way with the CERF grants for both the IDP response and Cholera interventions. Further strengthening the transparency, accountability and inclusiveness of the YHF is something that I intend to continue to pursue in 2017.

Due to the generosity of our donors, the YHF contributions increased by almost 90 per cent in 2016 as compared to 2015. Eleven donors; the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark and the Republic of Korea contributed a total of US$107.2 million to the Fund. This made the Fund the largest Country-Based Pooled Fund globally. Yemen is one of the largest humanitarian crises and having a large humanitarian fund enables humanitarian organisation to respond appropriately with speed, flexibility and effectiveness. The Fund allows the humanitarian community to target the most affected population with life saving interventions through a strict prioritisation process, conducted at a national and sub-national level by all stakeholders.