Yemen: Room to Breathe: How EU-funded Cash Assistance Stabilised a Displaced Family in Al Dali’

Country: Yemen Source: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development Displaced from Al Hudaydah for a decade and providing for his mother and two younger siblings from a torn tent in Al Dali’, Majed had only the will to work. Unconditional cash assistance helped ease immediate pressures, giving him greater flexibility to support his family’s needs. Ten years ago, Majed*, 25, left Al Hudaydah when he was a teenager with his mother and his two younger siblings. They did not choose to leave. The conflict chose for them. They headed south to the governorate of Al Dali’, where they registered as an internally displaced family and settled in one of the camps for displaced people in Al Dali’ under precarious conditions. It is a challenge to find a job in my status, we fled Al Hudaydah and left our official documents behind. If I work one day, the next ten days I will not find a job. Sometimes it takes months to find one Majed In Yemen’s devastated labour market, the daily wage is not a stable source of income. Majed spent years taking on whatever work was available – driving people on his motorcycle, farming when the season allowed and going without work when neither was in demand. The competition for even precarious work remains high. As of 2026, an estimated 5. 2 million Yemenis remain displaced nationwide (OCHA Yemen HNRP 2026), many trapped in the same cycle of instability that Majed knows intimately. Al Dali’ camp Photo: CCY / Acted, Saeed Bin Jouhar, Governorate, Yemen, 2026. The CCY–Acted cash distribution centre in Al Dali’ Governorate. Photo: CCY / Acted, Saeed Bin Jouhar, Al Dali’ Governorate, Yemen, 2026. When the Cash Consortium of Yemen – funded by the European Union – identified his household as a priority case for Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), Majed joined a group of families that received direct, unconditional cash assistance. The support came without restrictions on how it should be used, allowing households to decide how best to address their most urgent needs. When I received the cash assistance, it was the first time in a long time that I felt like I could think about more than just today. I used it where we needed it most – for the shelter, I fixed the open patches, for my siblings, I bought mattresses they can sleep on, for things we had been going without for a long time. Majed The impact was immediate and concrete. Before receiving MPCA, Majed’s family had been unable to meet even basic non-food needs. The assistance helped cover essential expenses, including shelter-related costs and other household needs. It also reduced some of the difficult trade-offs families often face between food, shelter and other basic necessities, contributing to safer and more stable living conditions. CCY–Acted staff verifying beneficiary documentation during the cash distribution session, and handing out an appreciation certificate to them for participating in the programme activities, Al Dali’ Governorate. Photo: CCY / Acted, Saeed Bin Jouhar, Al Dali’ Governorate, Yemen, 2026. Majed receiving his cash assistance at the distribution point, Al Dali’ Governorate. Photo: CCY / Acted, Saeed Bin Jouhar, Al Dali’ Governorate, Yemen, 2026. Majed has not forgotten where he came from. Like many displaced Yemenis, he still hopes to return to Al Hudaydah one day. While cash assistance helps families meet immediate needs and regain a degree of stability, it cannot reverse the losses caused by years of displacement. All I hope for is for this conflict to end – and to go back to the days Yemen used to be stable. Majed What the cash assistance did – and what it does for hundreds of thousands of Yemenis like Majed – is prevent the distance from growing even further. It bought his family the one thing that displacement strips away first: the ability to make a decision about tomorrow. In Yemen, where 22. 3 million people require humanitarian assistance (OCHA Yemen HNRP 2026), this kind of support remains essential for many families. About the Programme The Cash Consortium of Yemen (CCY) is led by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in partnership with Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (Acted), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Mercy Corps (MC), and Solidarités International (SI), with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) serving as a non-funded technical partner. Funded by the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), CCY delivers Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) to conflict-affected and displaced households across Yemen while creating pathways to longer-term recovery through referrals to the European Union-funded AMAL (Achieving Meaningful And Lasting Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons) livelihoods programme. This integrated approach reflects the European Union’s commitment to the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus by linking emergency humanitarian assistance with sustainable livelihood opportunities. Current Action (2024–2026) Under the current action, CCY has reached 85, 076 households (570, 009 individuals) across 13 governorates and 124 districts, providing life-saving Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance that enables vulnerable families to meet their immediate needs while creating pathways towards longer-term recovery and sustainable livelihoods. *Names have been changed to protect individuals’privacy.

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