2021 YHF and CERF funding to Yemen

In 2021, the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) jointly provided approximately $149 million for lifesaving assistance in Yemen. Funding was allocated through a CERF Rapid Response (RR) allocation in May, followed by two YHF Standard Allocations as well as four Reserve Allocations launched between June and December, respectively. CERF and YHF funding were strategically prioritized to cover the needs of over 13 million1 vulnerable people, many of whom are living in the hardest to reach, and frontline areas. This pooled funding represents 6.6 per cent of the $2.27 billion contributed to the 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) in 2021, making it the sixth largest source of funding. Out of the total pooled funding allocated in 2021, $85.1 million (57.1 per cent) went to NGOs and Red Crescent Society (RCS) partners.

YHF and CERF funding was allocated in a strategic and complementary manner. The CERF RR allocation of almost $40 million was allocated to UN agencies and their partners in response to large-scale displacement and further deterioration of living conditions of already displaced populations in Al Jawf and Marib. The funding aimed to enable immediate scale-up of the response capacity in the two governorates through the provision of air transport and logistics for humanitarian partners, as well as the delivery of lifesaving, multi-sectoral services to address the most urgent needs of over 768,000 people displaced by conflict and members of host communities Complementing the CERF funding, in June, the YHF first Standard Allocation (SA1) of $50.5 million provided critical funding to 1.95 million people in need across 16 governorates in Yemen, of which a total of $7.1 million was allocated to support more than 290,000 people in Marib and Al Jawf specifically. Out of the total SA1 funding allocated, approximately $46.3 million (91.6 per cent) was allocated to NGO and Red Crescent Society Partners.

In November, the Second YHF Standard Allocation (SA2) provided $44.5 million to 35 partners’ lifesaving activities targeting more than 1.5 million people across 10 governorates of Yemen. Approximately $11.7 million was allocated for Marib in particular in view of recent displacement and increasing humanitarian needs, targeting more than 475,000 people in urgent need of assistance. Combined, these three allocations provided a timely and effective response, leveraging on the funds' comparative advantages of scale and reach.

The fast injections of funding from the YHF Reserve Allocations 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, between August and December 2021 provided a total of $14.1 million to meet urgent needs across Yemen, including in Marib and Al Jawf. In total, more than $46 million, or almost 31 per cent of the combined CERF and YHF allocations made in 2021, are supporting the humanitarian response in these two governorates.