Since its first presence on the ground in Yemen in May 2018, the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program in Yemen (SDRPY) has increased its operation Yemen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its continuing operations, SDRPY has tackled health, environmental and other crises with development projects and initiatives in cooperation with the Yemeni government and local authorities, sharing experiences with relevant international and local organizations to arrive at best practices of direct benefit to the Yemeni citizen. SDRPY projects are helping to raise health and environmental standards and limit the spread of coronavirus, providing modern laboratory equipment to hospitals and medical centers and securing medicines and supplies. Projects supporting Yemen's health sector, the first line of defense against the pandemic, also build the capacity of Yemenis to provide medical care to their countrymen. SDRPY has made it possible for medical services to reach patients in need in remote areas, not just cities. Projects on islands and in rural and remote districts have facilitated access to medical treatment for all, including patients who have never even had access to such services before. Anticipating the first registered case of COVID-19 in Yemen, SDRPY launched a prevention and sterilization campaign with the Yemeni Ministry of Health and the Cleaning Fund in Hadhramaut Governorate. This involved spraying and sterilizing public places, markets and residential areas, and in cities on the coast, beginning with Mukalla. Medical projects in Socotra include the rehabilitation and equipment of the Maternity and Child Care Center, Nogid Health Center and Amadhen Health Center, and the design of the 9,000-square-meter Socotra Hospital with 95 beds. In Al-Mahra Governorate, the program has built and equipped a kidney dialysis center and established an ICU and operation building at Al-Ghaydah Central Hospital. SDRPY's work in Aden includes equipping the dialysis center, providing a desalination plant and medical equipment at the Republican Hospital, rehabilitating Aden General Hospital and establishing the Cardiology Center. In Hajjah Governorate, the program has furnished and equipped the health center on Al-Fasht Island and provided a fully equipped ambulance in Hayran. Hadhramaut has received 5 modern ambulances, and in Marib Governorate, intensive care centers have been equipped by SDRPY and ambulances supplied to Kara General Hospital, 26th of September Hospital and Marib Authority Hospital. In the temporary capital of Aden, accumulated waste had caused the spread of disease. SDRPY responded by intervening with machinery and equipment for waste removal via a plan devised with civil society and official municipal bodies. In the first month of the 'Beautiful Aden' campaign, now in the second phase of its 3-month duration, 222% of the total waste expected to be cleared during phase one was removed. The campaign served 120,155 direct and 341,744 indirect beneficiaries in the governorate and exceeded its established targets by removing 21,755 cubic meters of waste that had piled up in Aden's streets and neighborhoods. The expected goal had been to remove 9,000 cubic meters. SDRPY projects also contribute to reducing the risks associated with using unclean water and preventing certain diseases, including cholera. SDRPY continues to provide water tankers, dig wells and develop the water sector with a multitude of projects, thus confronting the threat of COVID-19 and other epidemics and disease. Through its agriculture and fisheries projects, SDRPY has mitigated the impact of the current crisis on families and communities in Yemen by bolstering food production. The program has helped strengthen food security, build capacity and raise efficiency in local communities, making them more resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crucially, SDRPY takes climate-based crises in Yemen into consideration as part of its crisis and emergency response plan. The program confronts these crises to facilitate development work, standing with Yemenis in the affected provinces who fall victim to climate-related hazards. — PRNewswire
