RSD’s health and nutrition activities began in 2016 as a response to the impact of nearly a year of war on Yemen’s public health services, which were already deficient even before the outbreak of conflict in March 2015. Since then, the program has worked to improve health and nutrition services in Yemeni communities by:

• Supporting more than 26 health facilities in Taiz, Lahj, Aden, Al-Hodeida, Abyan, and Marib with much-needed medical supplies and medical equipment. 
  
  
• Delivering first responder trainings in Al-Dhalea and Taiz governorates from 2017-2018 that equipped 120 women and men volunteers who have since provided first aid support to more than 35,000 Yemenis in their communities. 
  
  
• Conducting COVID-19 pandemic response activities benefiting thousands of Yemenis in Taiz, Lahj, Aden, Al-Hodeida, Abyan, Al-Dhalea, Hadramout, and Marib—including the distribution of COVID-19 prevention supplies and delivering community awareness trainings and campaigns on COVID-19 prevention.
  
  
• Establishing a nutrition unit in Al-Dhubab district of Taiz governorate in 2020, which RSD continues to operate—providing nutrition services to children with severe-acute and moderate-acute malnutrition. 
  
  

A November 2023 survey by Yemen’s Ministry of Health revealed a Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate of over 33 percent among children under five in Yemen. That’s double the World Health Organization (WHO)’s 15 percent threshold for emergency response and within the catastrophe range. Scaling up nutrition services remains a critical priority for strengthening interdependent Yemeni communities where everyone can prosper.