Since 2015, the ongoing conflict has pushed Yemen deeper into poverty and has increased the vulnerability of its people, especially women and children.

Thirty-year-old Samia Al Djadabi lived in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, with her child and paralyzed husband. In recent years, the family has faced such financial hardships that Samia was forced to sell the family’s car – their only form of transportation. With the goal of cobbling together enough money to open a grocery store, where her husband would be able to work, Samia sold all of her jewelry, including her wedding ring.

As the grocery store business slowly stabilized, their circumstances improved. However, not long after, their profits and customer-base declined as a result of uncertainty and massive loss of livelihoods because of the continuing conflict. As her husband’s illness continued to drain Samia’s resilience and the family’s finances, she had to suspend her employees’ salaries and close her grocery store. 

Months later, Samia received a financial grant from the Social Fund for Development's (SFD), UNDP's partner in our Yemen Emergency Crisis Reponse Project (YECRP). SFD provided the National Microfinance Foundation (NMF) and the Yemen Microfinance Network (YMN) to help people like Samia who was able to re-open her store, hire staff, and purchase medicine for her husband. She was also able to enroll her son in a private school.  

Sadly, Samia’s husband recently died from his medical condition. Although she and her son were left feeling anxious, frustrated, and hopeless, they were able to keep going thanks to the support.

Not only is Samia a role-model for her son, her work ethic and success inspired a neighbor to also a open store.

Now, Samia has her sights set on securing a larger loan to expand the scope of her grocery store and meet all of her customers’ needs. 
   

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Funded and supported by the World Bank, the Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project (YECRP) is implemented by the Social Fund for Development (SFD) and the Public Works Project (PWP) in partnership with UNDP. The USD $400 million project provides economic stimuli in the form of large cash-for-work projects, support to small businesses, and labor-intensive repairs of socio-economic assets, benefiting vulnerable local households and communities across Yemen.