Despite the Security Risks, RDP Reached Thousands of Affected Population Through Community Health Outreach
Having been surrounded by protracted armed conflicts and not being able to reach the supported health facilities due to serious security risks is by far the most excruciating tragedy that humanity ever experienced.
Since the war started, Marib has become one of the most densely populated governorates in Yemen which has hosted hundreds of internally displaced persons due to the intensification of deadly fighting in neighboring governorates. In the beginning of 2020, a large number of conflict-related displacement has caused a huge humanitarian gap and lack of basic needs, mostly health care for community civilians in Rahbah and Al Abdiyah districts of Marib governorate. What made the situation even worse was the fact that both mentioned districts have been plunged into horrific armed clashes which triggered near-famine conditions and a severe shortage of medical care.
In fact, lack of humanitarian interventions in Rahbah and Al Abdiyah districts has made the community residents struggle to obtain the very basic needs, and thus RDP responded to the community urgent needs through the implementation of the emergency minimum service package (MSP) project, funded by Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF), occurring in Al Abdiyah and Rahbah districts of Marbi governorate. This project has strengthened the access and availability of essen-tial health care services by supporting six health facilities in both districts to reduce the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases in the community.
However, road difficulties and security risks were two major factors in preventing hundreds of displaced families from reaching the supported health facilities. Therefore, RDP has launched dozens of community health outreach for those living in the second and third catchment areas to ensure the accessibility of medical care and health promo-tion. From June to December, 2020, RDP reached a number of 3,511 individuals disaggregated (593 men, 1,071 women, 1,017 boys, 830 girls) through outreach activities in Al Abdiyah and Rahbah districts.
Through door-to-door community health outreach, RDP ensured that community residents have benefited from the primary health care services, maternal and child health care, medical consultations, drugs prescription, reproductive health care, provision of ANC/PNC, normal deliveries, essential newborn care as well as provision of routine immunization and integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) services in targeted districts of Marib govenorate.