Pandemic preparedness and response project in Yemen

The primary aim of the project is to enhance the health and well-being of the Yemeni population, livestock, and ecosystems by bolstering Yemen’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to endemic and pandemic threats. Specifically, the project focuses on strengthening early warning and disease surveillance systems, improving laboratory capacities, enhancing workforce skills, and promoting multisectoral coordination and accountability.

Implementation arrangements and key components

The implementation of the project will be a collaborative effort between Implementing Entities, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MOPHP), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MAIF), supported by central and governorate authorities in Yemen. Civil society organizations, such as the Abs Development Organization for Women and Child (ADO), will play a crucial role in engaging vulnerable groups and supporting community-based surveillance and early warning systems.

The project is organized into four key components:

Strengthening prevention and surveillance
This component focuses on enhancing early warning and disease surveillance systems at various levels, including facility, local, district, governorate, and national. The expansion will involve adding approximately 300 sentinel sites to Yemen’s Early Warning and Disease Surveillance System (EIDEWS), establishing four veterinary surveillance centers, and equipping quarantine and border inspection units. The national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy will also be updated, and AMR sentinel sites will be set up in five governorates (FAO, WHO).

Improving laboratory capacities
Efforts will be directed towards strengthening 12 central public health laboratories and three veterinary diagnostic laboratories. This will involve improving specimen transport and tracking systems, enhancing genomic sequencing capacities in Aden and Sana’a, and ensuring robust biosafety and biosecurity measures (FAO, WHO).

Enhancing workforce capacity
Activities under this component include conducting multisectoral outbreak response simulations, refresher training for rapid response teams, and specialized training for epidemiologists, animal health personnel, and other health workers. The goal is to strengthen connections between community health workers and the surveillance system (FAO, WHO, UNICEF).

Improving multisectoral coordination and accountability
The project will support the creation and implementation of Yemen’s first National Action Plan for Health Security, complete annual SPAR assessments, and prepare for the next Joint External Evaluation (JEE). It will also focus on building capacities at national, governorate, district, and community levels to sustain pandemic preparedness and response efforts (FAO, WHO, UNICEF).

Expected outcomes

The project is anticipated to significantly enhance Yemen’s capacity for disease prevention, early warning, detection, and response through a One Health approach. Expected improvements include higher scores in annual SPAR and JEE assessments, which will facilitate the mobilization of additional funding for pandemic preparedness and response. Over the long term, the project aims to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of epidemic and pandemic events on vulnerable populations, leading to better health outcomes, improved livelihoods, and enhanced food security.