[{"bbox": [72, 107, 302, 139], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2. RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [86, 170, 220, 197], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### 2.1. Context"}, {"bbox": [83, 240, 1145, 374], "category": "Text", "text": "After six years of civil war, Yemen has become the **worst human-made humanitarian crisis in the world**. The protracted conflict has caused significant loss of life, displacement and damage to infrastructure, as well as a strong economic downturn and a loss of livelihoods for large parts of the population. With Yemen largely dependent on imports for food and basic commodities, the de facto embargo imposed by some neighbouring countries has had a disastrous impact on the supply situation provoking a collapse of the economy."}, {"bbox": [83, 384, 1145, 439], "category": "Text", "text": "As a result, over 80% of the Yemeni population is in need of humanitarian assistance or protection. **The humanitarian system is overstretched, unable to meet all needs.**"}, {"bbox": [83, 449, 1145, 609], "category": "Text", "text": "Yemen is also facing a significant **development crisis**. Yemen is traditionally one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 179 out of 189 on the Human Development Index (HDI 0.470), with approximately three quarters of the population affected by poverty in 2020 and women more severely impacted than men. The country has faced structural development challenges for decades but the situation worsened drastically since the start of the current conflict in 2015, which has already set human development in Yemen back by more than 20 years (the current HDI is the same as in 1998)."}, {"bbox": [83, 621, 1145, 808], "category": "Text", "text": "The **economic situation** in Yemen is characterised by a drastic increase of the inflation rate, fragmentation of economic institutions, a liquidity crisis, devaluation of the Yemeni Riyal, non-payment of public salaries and soaring unemployment. State authority has weakened as a result of the de facto split of the country and the non-payment of public salaries over several years. About 40% of households have lost their primary source of income. The private sector has also suffered severe losses, compounded by difficulties in accessing liquidity or credit and forcing massive lay-offs and closures. As a result, **basic service delivery in many districts of the country relies entirely on humanitarian and development assistance.**"}, {"bbox": [83, 820, 1145, 954], "category": "Text", "text": "Yemen faces two additional compounding challenges. Firstly, **gender inequality** is a major obstacle to development progress and poverty reduction in Yemen, which ranks 162th out of 162 countries in the 2020 Gender Inequality Index, with a score of 0.795. Female participation in the labour market is only 6%. Employment opportunities for women are not only curtailed as a consequence of the conflict but also due to strict societal norms and related government regulations."}, {"bbox": [83, 964, 1145, 1072], "category": "Text", "text": "Secondly, Yemen is **vulnerable to climate change**. Current projections indicate that rising temperatures and frequent droughts will increase land degradation and desertification. Sea level rise will result in increased coastal flooding and possible damages to infrastructure and ecosystems, leading to sea-water intrusion affecting the country's already fragile freshwater balance and consequently also agriculture and livelihoods."}, {"bbox": [86, 1129, 326, 1161], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### 2.2. Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [83, 1200, 302, 1227], "category": "Text", "text": "Short problem analysis:"}, {"bbox": [83, 1252, 1145, 1439], "category": "Text", "text": "The ongoing conflict in Yemen has severely damaged the economic infrastructure of the country and caused a liquidity crisis of unprecedented dimension, with serious consequences on the primary source of income of almost half of Yemeni households. The conflict is having a pervasive impact also on the private sector, which has suffered severe losses, compounded by difficulties in accessing liquidity or credit and forcing massive lay-offs and closures. Yet, the private sector plays a vital role in turning the wheel of economic activity in Yemen. Therefore, enabling the private sector to become more resilient to conflict can help communities better able to deal with risks and shocks by increasing economic self-reliance."}, {"bbox": [83, 1465, 486, 1492], "category": "Text", "text": "The main challenges taken into account are:"}, {"bbox": [83, 1517, 1145, 1624], "category": "Text", "text": "**Deterioration of women's and young people's livelihoods:** The conflict has exacerbated chronic unemployment, affecting approximately 70% of the population under the age of 25. Female participation in the labour market is only 6%. In addition, young artists have struggled to practice art publicly during the conflict through poetry, street art, exhibitions and performances. These initiatives lack financial resources, capacities, outreach and institutional support."}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1157, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 23"}]