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Yemen

Yemen Minimum Expenditure Basket: Operational Guidance Note - Cash and Markets Working Group (September 1, 2022)

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This Guidance Note supersedes the previous versions of the documents regarding the Yemen SMEB and Transfer Values. The recommendations from this document are applicable from 1 st September 2022 as endorsed by the Cash and Markets Working Group.

1 Guidance Note Objective and Scope

This guidance note documents the inputs and calculation of the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) and Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) transfer value for the and North and South of Yemen. As Yemen is divided between the DFA (North) and IRG (South), with each area operating different monetary policies, market prices differ which leads to different transfer values.
The current MEB includes prices for Food, Shelter/NFI, WASH, and Services (health, communication, and transportation). The different MEB components are calculated using market price data, household expenditure data, and inputs from relevant clusters. The Yemen MEB is calculated to cover the minimum needs of an average household size of seven people.
Due to the volatile economic situation, the MEB and transfer value requires regular review. The monitoring and revision triggers are outlined below.

2 MEB Technical Working Group:

The Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) is revised by the SMEB Technical Working Group (TWG), which is convened by and reports to the Yemen Cash and Market Working Group (CMWG). Following a revision of the Minimum Food Basket (MFB) by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) in May 2022, the SMEB TWG was convened in June 2022 to initiate another round of SMEB revision. The SMEB TWG created a core technical group to lead on the revision comprised of the CMWG Chair (OCHA) and co-chair (CCY), REACH Initiatives, UNHCR, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The core group firstly reviewed the use of a ‘survival’ MEB, and agreed to move to a full MEB, due to planned gap analysis and to align with other protracted humanitarian crises in the MENA region (the SMEB TWG becoming the MEB TWG). The core group then reviewed each component of the S/MEB and the items within each component, in consultation with relevant clusters. While there were no changes to the MEB components, some items within each component or the approach to monetization did change, and these are noted within the relevant component sections below. The revised MEB was presented to the CMWG on 8th September 2022, with endorsement following via email.

3 MEB Components and Inputs:

The inputs for each MEB component have been agreed with the Food Security and Agriculture,
Shelter/NFI, Health, and WASH Clusters, with attendant agreements for input monitoring in close coordination with each Cluster.

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