Social Inclusion
In Yemen, UNICEF Social Policy interventions ensure that every child has an equal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions
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The Challenge
The armed conflict and economic decline have placed an immense pressure of essential public services accelerating the collapse of public systems and contributing to the unprecedented scale of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The formal social protection systems are on the verge of collapse, while informal social protection mechanisms and networks are overstretched.
In 2021, UNICEF continued prioritizing integrated social protection agenda through evidence generation and cash assistance.
The Solution
In 2021, the unconditional cash transfers reached 1.4 million beneficiaries impacting nearly 9 million people – about one third of the country’s population.
The Humanitarian Cash Transfers (HCT) initiative continued throughout 2021 to support vulnerable and marginalized communities and CWD. A total of 33,755 households (HHs)/202,530 people (48,742 men, 50,496 women, boys 50,733 boys and 52,559 girls) benefited from HCT in Amanat Al-Asamah, Sana’a, Aden, Ibb, and Taizz governorates.
The integration of the Integrated Model for Social and Economic Assistance (IMSEA) and Cash Plus initiatives within UNICEF programmes was the first example of integrated social protection in the UNICEF Country Office. The social assistance component of IMSEA was scaled up through a social transfer initiative in response to the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in the country and the to the malnutrition crisis. As part of this initiative, 38,576 individuals were reached through case management referral.
The Cash Plus initiative, reached a total of 16,263 HHs/ 117,153 people (48,486 men, 53,780 women, 7,501 boys, and 7,186 girls) during the third and fourth payment cycles, which accompanied the ninth and tenth payment cycles of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) programme.
In an effort to prevent the country from economic collapse and prevent the vulnerable population form descending further into poverty, the Yemen Unconditional Cash Transfer Project (formerly the Emergency Cash Transfer ECTP) was established in response to the rapid deterioration of the economic situation and living conditions of the Yemeni population, as well as to maintain the country’s social welfare system.
The UCT project not only builds on the beneficiary list pre-conflict but also on other design parameters of the Social Welfare Fund with a longer-term objective of reviving and strengthening the national social protection system. Although the project builds on the parameters of the Social Welfare Fund, the necessary adjustments have been made to the cash delivery mechanism, to be able to deliver these in a high-risk and volatile environment.
In February 2021, UNICEF published the ‘Mapping Assessment of Available Assistance to Children with Disabilities in Yemen’, which identified key findings and challenges related to access to basic services and registration for children with disabilities (CWD) in Yemen. The report was reviewed in October 2021 during a workshop organized that included 50 international and local development and humanitarian actors. Participants agreed to promote and advocate for CWD rights and needs as part of their interventions. In 2021, UNICEF supported the production and publication of 12 issues of the Yemen Socio-Economic Update (YSEU) and a special analysis study on "The Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 in Yemen and Mitigation Policy Options".
The UCT project is UNICEF’s largest cash transfer project globally.