March 16, 2022

Place: Tamdeen Youth Foundation - Sana'a

 

At the invitation and self-support of Tamdeen Youth Foundation, a meeting of members of Civil Society Organizations' Initiative to Localize and Optimize Humanitarian Response Mechanisms in Yemen was held today at Tamdeen Youth Foundation to discuss the latest achievements in the preparatory phase plan, and to study the baseline. Members were briefed on the steps taken in 2021 to the end of February 2022, and the next steps, difficulties and solutions .

 

The participants appreciated the efforts of the program team and the great effort of TYF's team, led by Mr. Hussein Al Suhaily, its Chairman, and Coordinator of the Localization and Recovery Initiatives, the role of the initiative's international partners, ICVA and HAG, and the local consultant, Itar Foundation. They also expressed their desire to participate voluntarily and support the activities of the upcoming initiative.

 

On behalf of TYF, its Localization Program Manager, Mr. Abdul Qawi Hajib, thanked the initiative's members, praised their active participation, and appreciated important suggestions and views to overcome difficulties, and their willingness to participate in future activities.

 

 

A training workshop was then conducted by consultants from Itar's team in the baseline study and study tools, which will be implemented after approval has been received.

 

 

The most important achievements presented and discussed with the initiative's members are as follows:

 

1. Initial coordination with civil society organizations and a number of national and international actors in the humanitarian response in Yemen.

 

 

2. Launching the initiative in August 2021, and delivering a copy to the competent authorities.

 

 

3. Several preliminary and awareness-raising meetings were held with many stakeholders in civil society organizations to introduce the Localization of Humanitarian Action and to have access to local leadership and implementation, while preliminary and awareness meetings are still ongoing.

 

 

4. Making a proposed program implementation plan for phase 1.

 

 

5. Hiring a program manager.

 

 

6. Coordinating with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and the Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG), and consulting with NEAR Network in October 2021.

 

 

7. In coordination with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and the Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG), a local consultant was selected in December 2021.

 

 

8. Completing the consultant's (Itar) initial report, and assessment and baseline study tools.

 

 

9. Meetings with several actors and government agencies in Sana'a and Aden were held, and the baseline study plan was presented and copies delivered, including the competent government agencies and institutions in Sana'a and Aden.

 

 

The Program Manager also presented the activities of the next phase of the baseline study to localize and optimize response mechanisms in Yemen, the most important of which are:

 

1. Coordinating with the relevant government authorities, informing them of the next steps and, if necessary, taking permits .

 

 

2. Implementing the baseline study and the work of the preliminary draft to assess the current situation and recommendations.

 

 

3. Producing and publishing the final draft of the report, and advocating for recommendations.

 

 

The most important difficulties and obstacles were also presented, most notably:

 

1. This is a voluntary initiative and there is no financial support for it, and TYF relies on its limited resources to cover the implementation costs.

 

 

2. Lack of awareness among actors of the importance of localization, which requires additional efforts and resources in raising awareness of the localization and presenting the initiative.

 

 

3. Failure of some international organizations and actors to respond to the initiative and provide the necessary support to complete all activities.

 

 

4. The wide geographical scope of the targets and the dispersal of government agencies between north and south and the multiplicity of those to be consulted in their limited capacity.

 

 

It should be noted that the preliminary phase of the initiative, which aims to:

Phase 1 objectives:

1. Assess the current situation of national response indicators of localization, and provide humanitarian actors and stakeholders with knowledge and decision-making capacity to localize humanitarian action in Yemen.

 

 

2. Work in partnership with all stakeholders to formulate a national strategy for the localization of humanitarian action in Yemen and operational plans agreed upon by all actors and stakeholders in the seven humanitarian action localization hubs.

 

 

The target stakeholders are:

1. Civil society organizations (Sana'a - Aden).

 

2. Government agencies: (Sana'a -  Aden).

 

3. Private sector and businesses (Sana'a - Aden).

 

4. International organizations.

 

5. UN organizations and agencies.

 

Expected outcomes:

This initiative will integrate with all key partners and stakeholders throughout Yemen involved in humanitarian response, early recovery, development and local peace. The functions of this initiative have been directed to create an enabling environment for localization of humanitarian action and to optimize humanitarian and development mechanisms to reach the expected outcomes as follows:

 

Outcome 1.1: A general framework for measuring the performance of localization in Yemen and a preliminary report on the work of the baseline study.

 

Outcome 1.2: Baseline study report for current humanitarian action localization indicators in Yemen.

 

Outcome 2.1: A national strategy for localization of humanitarian action and a framework for measuring overall outcomes based on a participatory methodology (with all actors and stakeholders) and based on the outcomes of the baseline study.

 

Outcome 2.3: Operational plans to achieve the strategy in each sector reviewed and agreed by all stakeholders, and advocate and ensure implementation support.

 

 

Participants:

 

1.Abdul Qawi Hijab

Tamdeen Youth Foundation

 

2.Ebtisam Al Sharafi

Itar Foundation

 

3.Seba Al Hakimi

Itar Foundation

 

4.Nada Khalid Assaj

Al-Aman Organization for Blind Women Care

 

5.Omaimah Abdullah Al Masaoudi

Al-Aman Organization for Blind Women Care

 

6.Arwad Al Khateeb

Taaioch Foundation for Rights and Development

 

7. Ammar Al Ashwal

Tamdeen Youth Foundation

 

8.Hisham Mohammed

Tamdeen Youth Foundation

 

9.Hamza Al Sanafi

Building Foundation for Development

 

10.Salah Aldeen A Fotihi

Abs Organization

 

11.Ghaleb Al Banna

Field Medical Foundation

 

12.Othman Ali Al Maqtari

Yemeni Development Network

 

13.Hamdi Al Alimi

Itar Foundation

 

14.Bashar Mohammed

Itar Foundation

 

15.Fares Al Aliy

Itar Foundation

 

16.Abdulrahman Al Asli

Itar Foundation

 

17.Amani Al Kumaim

Life Makers Meeting Place Organization