Yahya Mohammed Mahdi Alzwahi is a 43-year-old father of ten children. He lives in the small, beautiful village of Bani Haroon in Kua’aydnah district of Hajjah governorate.
“Bani Haroon is my village, the place where I was born and raised,” says Yahya. “It is a fantastic village surrounded by trees and farms. Previously I was a teacher receiving my government salary, which was my only source of income and covered the basics for my family for almost a month.”
After more than four years of conflict in Yemen, severe economic decline is driving significant losses of livelihoods as basic commodities are becoming scarcer and more expensive and people’s livelihoods opportunities and access to cash are diminishing. In addition, millions of families are affected by the loss of public sector salaries. As Yahya says: “For three years, I and most teachers have not been paid our monthly government salaries – suddenly we were without any income.” This loss of livelihoods has resulted in negative coping mechanisms such as selling assets and reducing food consumption and clean water purchases as well as going into crippling debt.
In response to this huge need, CARE International funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs is helping vulnerable people like Yahya to survive the brutality of war. CARE provided his family with three productive female goats, an unconditional cash transfer as well as constructing a latrine for his family.
