CALP Network 168d ago

For nearly a decade, Yemen has faced one of the world’s longest-running humanitarian crises. For Anas Mohammed Qasem, Deputy CEO of Altwasul for Human Development, this is not an abstract emergency – it is daily reality. “Every day we wake up to a different crisis,” he explains. “Some days fuel is not available, some days gas prices change, some days electricity is gone.” Families face inflation, lost salaries, displacement and failing public services all at once.  Yet Anas is clear that Yemeni communities do not want dependency. “The Yemeni people don’t want to be reliant. They want to work. They want to earn. This is the culture,” he says. That belief underpins Altwasul’s locally led approach: combining short-term cash support with livelihoods, training and small business grants.  Instead of delivering cash alone, Altwasul uses what Anas calls an “integrated response.” Families receive monthly cash for six to twelve months to stabilise food and basic needs. At the same time, they are supported to start income-generating activities through vocational training, interest-free loans, or small grants for tools and equipment. “We don’t want them to collapse when the cash ends,” Anas explains. “Cash alone is not enough if it is not linked to livelihoods.”  The results are tangible. One family in Taiz received a tuk-tuk vehicle for their teenage son to operate. Within weeks, he was transporting goods in local markets and earning daily income. “The family could pay rent, buy food, and the children went back to school,” Anas recalls.  Another story is of a displaced woman who began with a single sewing machine. With cash support and a small grant, she built up a home-based tailoring business, later taking a loan for four more machines. “Now she has contracts with private schools for uniforms,” says Anas. “She supports her family and employs four other women.”  He is also frank about the limits of top-down aid. “Some interventions gave kits that people didn’t need. We saw them sold on the street,” he says. “If a family is hungry and you give them kit, they will sell the kit to buy food or their actual need.” He describes the limitations of some interventions that were not locally-led - “Sometimes projects are designed based on other contexts, not Yemen,” Anas explains. This contrasts with the work of Altwasul which is deeply rooted into the country context, working across all governorates through seven field offices and adapting support to culture, markets and gender norms.  Anas believes the future of humanitarian response in Yemen must be locally led. “We have qualified staff. We have qualified NGOs. We just need trust,” he says. “If you invest in local actors, they will go beyond donor expectations.”  In a country exhausted by years of emergency aid, Altwasul’s work shows what is possible when local leadership, cash assistance and livelihoods are combined - not just to help people survive, but to help them rebuild their life with dignity.