Mukalla, Yemen Patients arrive daily at the National Blood Transfusion and Research Centre in Mukalla, including children with thalassemia who need regular transfusions, cancer patients undergoing treatment, and people living with chronic conditions such as kidney and heart disease. For them, and their families, the Centre represents hope, and is a vital lifeline.With support from the World Bank through the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), the World Health Organization (WHO) is helping sustain these services by providing over 90 percent of the essential supplies, reagents and materials required for blood screening. This support enables the Centre to continue delivering safe and reliable services.Behind the scenes, health workers screen every unit of donated blood for infectious diseases, to ensure it is safe for transfusion. This process protects patients from serious health risks and reinforces confidence in the care they receive.“For many patients, access to safe blood is a matter of life and death. Ensuring access to safe blood is a cornerstone of resilient health systems,” said WHO Representative in Yemen, Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussein. “Through our partnership with the World Bank, WHO remains committed to supporting essential health services in Yemen and safeguarding the lives of the most vulnerable populations.”This support allows the Centre to provide transfusion services free of charge, easing the financial burden on families who already face significant hardship. For many, it makes the difference between accessing treatment and going without it.The steady provision of supplies allows the Centre to operate without interruption, ensuring patients can access care when they need it, without fear of delays or shortages.The National Blood Transfusion and Research Centre in Mukalla demonstrates what sustained support can achieve. Through the partnership between WHO and the World Bank, thousands of lives are being protected.A vital health service continues to offer hope to those who depend on it every day.

By:Written by Menntallah Homaid | Senior CommunicationCollected by Abeer Al-Hasani | Communication Assistant Aden, Yemen The aroma of berbere and simmering onions fills a modest kitchen, rising above the sounds of daily life in a migrant centre. Standing over a pot of bubbling zigni, Kadra, 30, stirs slowly, watching the deep-red sauce thicken. For a moment, the kitchen feels far removed from displacement, uncertainty and the long road that brought her here.
 
“This is more than a stew,” she says. “It carries the taste of home and memories of being together.”
 
The fragrance of garlic, ginger and spice reconnects her to Ethiopia. In this small act of cooking, Kadra preserves something conflict and migration could not take away. She also shares that connection with other migrant women around her, offering comfort through food and keeping traditions alive far from home.
 
Two years ago, Kadra left Ethiopia alone in search of a better life for her three children, unsure if she would ever see them again. Unaware that she was pregnant, she spent more than a month on the road with over 200 other migrants, often going days without enough food and struggling to find even a little water.    Every year, thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa make perilous journeys to Yemen, hoping to reach opportunities in Gulf countries. Many instead face exploitation, abuse and serious risks along the way.
 
Eventually, Kadra reached Sana’a, where she stayed for six months and gave birth to her baby.
 
In Sana’a, Kadra received support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), including food, shelter and medical care, assistance she says helped her survive a period of profound uncertainty.
 
“Without it, I don’t know how I would have managed,” she says.
 
After unsuccessful attempts to continue onward, Kadra made her way to Aden. Exhausted and with nowhere to go, she slept on the streets for three days before reaching IOM’s Migrant Response Point, where she received clothes, food and a place to rest.
 
She later moved to IOM’s Community Based Care centre, where she found safety, support and a sense of belonging during a time of uncertainty.
 
“When I came here, I felt like I had a family again,” she explains.      In Aden, IOM provides life-saving assistance to migrants like Kadra, including food, clothing, medical care, and safe spaces to rest.
 
The support she received helped her recover and begin contributing to life at the centre, caring for others even while navigating her own uncertainty.
 
Food became part of that.
 
In Ethiopia, she explains, preparing dishes like zigni is often tied to family gatherings and special occasions. Those memories stayed with her. At the centre in Aden, she began recreating those traditions, sharing meals with fellow migrants who, like her, carried memories of home while living in limbo.
 
“Every migrant who comes here has a story,” she says. “A story of struggle, hope and courage. Cooking reminds us that, despite everything, life continues.”      She starts by cooking chopped onions in oil until deep brown, then adds garlic, ginger and berbere, the spice blend that gives zigni its warmth and depth. Diced chicken follows, lightly browned before tomato paste and water are stirred in.
 
The stew simmers for nearly an hour, the flavours slowly coming together into a rich sauce.
 
Beside the pot rests injera, the soft, spongy bread used to scoop up the stew.
 
With practiced movements, Kadra lifts the ladle, stirs the chicken and checks the sauce, tending to the meal with the familiarity of someone returning, through memory, to another kitchen.
 
For Kadra, preparing zigni and injera is more than cooking. It is a way to preserve culture and offer comfort to others who have endured difficult journeys.
 
“Even here, we try to preserve traditions,” she says. “It is important for people to remember where they come from, what we eat and how we celebrate.”
 
Around shared meals, stories are exchanged. Women speak of children left behind, families they hope to see again and futures still uncertain. In those moments, food becomes more than sustenance. It becomes a way of holding onto identity.
 
“Even in difficult times, small things like cooking a dish from home can make you feel human again,” she says.    Shortly after sharing her story and food, Kadra returned to Ethiopia through IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme, reuniting with her children and beginning a new chapter grounded in safety, dignity and family.
 
The Community Based Care Centre (CBC) in Aden is funded with generous support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). The VHR assistance provided for Kadra and other migrants in vulnerable situations was made possible through the generous support of the UK FCDO. 

Al Dhale'e - In Al Sha’ab village in Al Dhale’e Governorate, community midwife, Saba Saleh, serves as the only trained healthcare provider in her village.  Saba’s journey began with a dream of becoming a doctor. When that dream proved out of reach, she found another way to serve. Recognizing the urgent need for maternal and newborn care in her community, she transformed part of her home into a small clinic with the support of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund and local partner Field Medication Foundation.With hospitals far away and transportation limited, her decision filled a critical gap. Today, her home-based clinic provides essential maternal and child health services — from antenatal checkups and safe deliveries to postnatal care and health education.“Women here used to give birth at home without skilled care,” Saba explains. “Now, they come to me. They trust that they will be safe.”Balancing Family and ServiceSaba’s clinic is also a reflection of her own reality as a mother of two children. With her husband often away for work, she built a model that allows her to care for her children while serving her community.Her work has no fixed hours. Emergencies can come at any time, and she responds — day or night. When patients travel long distances and cannot return home the same day, Saba welcomes them into her home, offering food, rest, and reassurance.She recalls a night when a woman in labour collapsed from severe hypoglycemia. Saba acted immediately, providing emergency care and staying with her until she recovered.In another instance, when a child with cholera needed more care than she could provide, Saba personally accompanied him to a health centre and stayed for three days until he was well.Bridging the GapsIn Yemen, reproductive health services remain severely limited, with many women and girls lacking access to maternal care and family planning resources. Only three out of five births take place with a skilled birth attendant, and one in three women do not receive antenatal care from a skilled provider.Through UNFPA’s support, midwives like Saba are trained, equipped, and supported to establish clinics within their homes, helping to bridge a critical gap in access to maternal health — bringing safety, dignity, and hope to families who might otherwise go without care.UNFPA currently supports 50 home-based midwifery clinics. In addition, 70 frontline community midwives have been mobilized to underserved and conflict-affected areas with limited access to health services and clinics. UNFPA also supports 100 students enrolled in a three-year midwifery diploma.Investing in MidwivesIn Al Sha’ab village, Saba is more than a midwife — she is a trusted neighbor, a counselor, and a friend. Families call her when fear arrives before help does. The children she once delivered now return to her with their own pregnancies, continuing a cycle of trust and care.As the world marks the International Day of the Midwife on 5 May, Saba’s story shines a light on the vital role midwives play in saving lives and strengthening communities.More financial support would allow UNFPA to invest in midwifes and scale up home-based clinics in Yemen.  Investing in midwives offers the single most effective way to save the lives of mothers and their newborns by extending access to antenatal care, safe childbirth and postnatal support and thereby help transform healthcare – and survival – for women and babies.  

Abyan/Tai’z - In Yemen, where two out of five health facilities are non-functional and maternal mortality remains among the highest in the region, midwives help to serve as the backbone of maternal care. With only three in five births attended by a skilled provider, midwives are often the only link to safe motherhood for countless women.Midwives prevent maternal and newborn deaths from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. With a midwife present, women have a far greater chance of safe delivery and healthy babies. In fragile, crisis-affected settings like Yemen, midwives are often the first—and only—providers of maternal healthcare.Beyond delivery, midwives provide family planning, antenatal and postnatal care, nutrition counseling, cancer screenings, and other essential health services. UNFPA research shows that every $1 invested in midwifery yields up to $16 in social and economic returns—making it a smart, cost-effective strategy for expanding healthcare and improving development outcomes.Racing against time to save a lifeOn 18 April 2025, in the outskirts of Tai’z Governorate, UNFPA-supported midwife Enas received an urgent call. Amira, eight months pregnant, had gone into labour. Enas traveled over three hours across treacherous terrain to reach her. After six hours of labour, Amira delivered her baby safely—but moments later, she began hemorrhaging severely.Enas acted with precision and calm. She performed a uterine massage, administered injections to control the bleeding, and replaced lost fluids through IV drips; as a result, Amira's life was saved – highlighting the lifesaving role of midwives who reach women where hospitals are too far and time is too short.A trusted presenceIn Zinjibar District of Abyan Governorate where women seek care only from female providers, midwife Wahiba is far more than a healthcare worker. She is a trusted presence—the person families call in the middle of the night, the face a frightened mother searches for when pain becomes unbearable.Medicine shortages, power outages, and overcrowded facilities are her daily reality. Sometimes she works by the light of her mobile phone. Still, she returns every morning, driven by the love and trust of her community.Wahiba knows that saving lives doesn't end in the delivery room. In her community, deeply rooted misconceptions put mothers and newborns at risk. Some women refuse prenatal vitamins, fearing they will make the baby too large and delivery more difficult—unaware that these supplements protect both mother and child."We need to raise awareness. Many misconceptions put mothers and babies at risk," she tells UNFPA.She advocates quietly and consistently—in conversations at the health center, during home visits, in every interaction with women who trust her enough to ask.Through UNFPA's support, Wahiba continues serving her community with the tools, training, and supplies she needs to save lives every day.A home turned midwifery clinicIn a remote village in Abyan Governorate, where roads are broken and hospitals distant, midwife Najeeba did not wait for a facility to be built—she built one inside her home.A midwife and trainer, Najeeba graduated in nursing in 1984 and later studied midwifery in Germany. Since 1989, she has trained generations of midwives and served women in the most remote areas of Abyan. Even after retirement, she continues receiving women in need—sometimes while cooking for her grandchildren.Her home is her clinic. Her bed is her examination table. Her old blood pressure monitor and sterilized delivery kit are her tools. When women have nowhere else to turn, they turn to Najeeba.She remembers one night when she delivered a baby under intense fighting. She stayed and saved both mother and child."Sometimes I find myself in a difficult position — I cannot provide complete care because the resources simply are not there." What we need most is a nearby clinic that provides the basics maternal health services,” she tells UNFPA.Through UNFPA, she now receives financial support to maintain her home clinic and a delivery ki, which includes tools that help her continue her mission to save lives.Building a strong midwifery workforceIn Yemen, UNFPA continues to invest in thousands of midwives in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health and Population and local actors. Under the National Midwifery Strategy 2024–2026, UNFPA supported the development of the National Education Standards and the National Professional Framework, aligned with international midwifery standards—marking a critical step toward empowering midwives to provide high-quality, lifesaving care across the country.In 2026, UNFPA is supporting 100 students enrolled in a three-year midwifery diploma. Seventy frontline community midwives are also being mobilized to underserved and conflict-affected areas with limited access to health services.On the International Day of the Midwife, UNFPA celebrates midwives as the backbone of health systems, and call for urgent investment in their education, leadership, and protection - essential actions if we are to expand the midwifery workforce by 1 million.