IOM Yemen: Driven by Compassion: Act of Kindness That Change Lives

Al Mokha, Yemen 

In her role as a Protection staff member with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Latifa comes across new challenges and heart-wrenching stories each day. At the Community Response Point in Al-Qadi on Yemen’s West Coast, she listens with empathy as 60-year-old Sahar recounts her harrowing experience.

For the past eight months, Sahar has been awaiting news of her son, who vanished at sea with seven other fishermen after setting sail in perilous weather. Since the death of her daughter-in-law a few months ago, Sahar has been the sole caregiver for her four grandchildren. Latifa listens attentively, letting Sahar know she is not alone, that there are people who care.

Latifa’s deep sense of responsibility and empathy for those she assists is rooted in her early days in the humanitarian field. Starting out as an interpreter, she found herself increasingly dedicated to the vulnerable groups she encountered during field visits, as she laid the foundation for her current role.

“In the beginning, I saw it as a career opportunity, but when I witnessed the impact my work had on other people’s lives, I was determined to continue working in this field,” Latifa explains. This passion has driven her to remain dedicated to her work for the past 18 years.

Given her hectic schedule, Latifa is grateful for her mother and sister, who have helped care for her four children throughout the years, allowing her to balance career and motherhood. Additionally, her husband has played a crucial role by assisting with regular visits to the children’s schools and caring for them when they are sick. “My husband has been my biggest supporter and the source of my strength and dedication to my work,” she says.

In her daily work, Latifa connects newly displaced people with IOM services, including health care and camp management and camp coordination, and other partners. Together with her colleagues, she distributes dignity kits and cash to vulnerable cases and organizes awareness sessions and referrals for mental health and psychosocial support.

Latifa regularly assists people like Ali, who has only just arrived from the outskirts of Hays, fleeing the escalating conflict in the area. Although his relatives welcomed him, their home was already overcrowded with five families, including 12 children and a newborn. While waiting for a better solution, Ali set up a makeshift shelter outside the house to stay close to his family. He is thankful that the gunshot wound he sustained to his finger while escaping wasn’t more severe.

Latifa and the team continuously assess and address the needs of newly displaced individuals, offering essential support. Currently, Ali is set to receive a tarpaulin and dignity kits for his family. Meanwhile, inside the house, his niece Shaima is busy caring for her newborn. She has called that place home for the past three years. When her daughter Hafida was born seven months ago, they had no roof, so rain poured directly into the room. Since then, she has received cash from IOM to upgrade the home.

Latifa also conducts regular monitoring visits to people IOM has already supported, like Katiba. When her husband died two years ago, 30-year-old Katiba thought she would never recover. Eight months pregnant with their daughter Rawan, she was devastated when her husband, a motorcycle driver, was killed in a mine explosion near the frontlines.

Katiba had warned her husband about the risks, but their daughter’s asthma required ongoing medication, so he needed to work to provide for the family. Upon seeing his lifeless body when the neighbours brought it to her house, Katiba was overcome with grief and struggled to find the will to carry on.

As she began to recover, the conflict around her escalated. Fearing for her children’s safety and haunted by painful memories, she was torn about the idea of staying in a place that reminded her of so much suffering. She didn’t have to ponder much. One night, as their house came under attack, she fled with her children, leaving everything behind.

Together with her six children, Katiba sought refuge with her brother in Mokha, but she felt guilty relying on him since he had his own family to support. For several months, she survived on just one meal a day. “I never wanted to be in a position where I had to beg for food,” Katiba recounts.

Hearing about IOM’s support for vulnerable people, Katiba reached out to Latifa, who helped her receive dignity kits and non-food items for her kitchen, as she had been using borrowed pots for cooking. “I didn’t even have a knife,” she recalls. “I was relying on whatever items people lent me.”

At first, she sold lollipops, but she could barely make ends meet. “My brother had a small piece of land and encouraged me to use it as I saw fit,” she says. With additional cash from IOM, she chose to open a small shop on the land. With more money, Katiba hopes she could expand the shop, but for now, she is content with what she has been able to accomplish.

From her brother who took her in, to the neighbour who let her use her pots, and to Latifa’s guidance and support – Katiba has been continually moved by the generosity of those around her. Though it may not be her original home, it’s beginning to feel like one. “This place has given me back my will to live,” she says.

Latifa, who has been a crucial source of support for Katiba, believes her experience in the humanitarian field has taught her patience, gratitude, and how to be a better person overall. “Seeing how other people live helps me appreciate my work and what I have more each day,” she explains. “Helping people like Katiba overcome their challenges fills me with pride and honour.”

World Humanitarian Day is commemorated every year on 19 August to pay tribute to humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, and to honour all aid and health workers who continue to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need.

IOM’s protection services through the MRPs and CBCs are funded by EU Humanitarian Aid, the United States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.