ICAN Partner Food4Humanity: The Frontlines of Yemen’s COVID-19 Response

* The original version of this article was first published in July 2021 in ICAN’s Annual Report 2020.

As the deadly war continues in Yemen, the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in 2020 threatened to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation. Ongoing clashes between armed groups on the ground and continued aerial bombings put immense strain on weak medical services, making it dangerous and difficult for humanitarian organizations to respond or deliver aid. Despite being underfunded and excluded from decision-making, women-led peacebuilding organizations fill the gaps left by the state and international organizations in reaching the frontlines of the war and the country’s remote areas, while also advocating strongly for a ceasefire, and an end to international support for the warring parties.

Established in 2015, ICAN partner, Food4Humanity is one of Yemen’s first women-led non-profit civil society organizations. The organization was founded by Yemeni women volunteers working on the ground in the areas most affected by famine, humanitarian crises and violent extremism. In addition to humanitarian aid, Food4Humanity strives to strengthen community resilience against radicalization and support livelihood initiatives. It also conducts advocacy work calling for the cessation of hostilities in Yemen and an inclusive peace with equal participation and representation in the peace process.

With their knowledge of humanitarian corridors, ability to negotiate access, and understanding of the real needs of the Yemeni population, Food4Humanity was well-positioned to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a special COVID-19 grant issued by ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF) of $27,900, Food4Humanity pivoted their work to:

• Provide humanitarian response and localize the COVID-19 prevention guidelines;
• Carry out a digital and print awareness campaign;
• Establish a women-led health and awareness center in Taiz;
• Conduct training for women living in high-risk slums on virus prevention and;
• Provide the trainees with tools for sharing the information with their communities.

In parallel to this Food4Humanity also called for an urgent and comprehensive aid effort and an immediate ceasefire to allow health and aid workers to continue their critical work.

As an immediate response, Food4Humanity provided 200 households with food parcels, trained a total of 50 women on COVID-19 prevention, and distributed full PPE gear to 80 doctors and nurses in Sanaa, as well as 200 masks to medical staff in Aden and Hodeidah. For the long-term, Food4Humanity’s interventions in communities has earned them trust and provided opportunities to access new groups for their peacebuilding interventions. Their project opened new channels of communication between the organization and government offices, security officials and other entities in Sana’a and elsewhere. These new relationships have improved the safety of volunteers.

Food4Humanity’s mediation efforts have also benefitted as they are perceived as a positive actor in communities. The increased trust and credibility have created new avenues for the participation of the organization’s Founder and Chair, Muna Luqman, in security dialogues related to the conflict on national scale and to local community security conflicts in the city of Taiz.