Mehad has just begun the second phase of its work at the Lawdar hospital in Abyan governorate, Yemen. Support for a further 12 months is planned, while the NGO aims to develop its work on the west coast of the country at the same time.
Lawdar hospital, the only secondary care facility for more than 135,000 inhabitants, is facing increasing pressure, fuelled by internal displacements and the closure of many neighbouring health centres. Against a backdrop of persistent instability and drastic cuts in international funding, its continued operation is vital.
Since July 2024, Mehad has provided decisive support to the hospital, through the payment of financial incentives to staff and the provision of targeted training, with the support of the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. These measures have helped to stabilise the operation of the services, despite a very tense security and economic context and the departure of other humanitarian actors.
More than 75,000 patients already treated
During this first phase, 75,001 patients were treated, 52% of them women and 19% children under the age of five. Testimonies gathered during an evaluation mission in June 2025 confirmed the positive impact of this support: better-trained staff were able to perform life-saving gestures, including in critical emergency situations.
Over the next twelve months, Mehad plans to expand its activities. 81,440 patients are expected to benefit from the activities of this phase 2, also conducted with the support of the CDCS. The support will focus on three areas:
- Maintain qualified staff by continuing to pay monthly incentives, which are essential to guaranteeing their presence and avoiding an exodus to other structures.
- Enhance the skills of care staff through ongoing training sessions and the development of new modules tailored to identified needs: emergency management, emergency department organisation, infection prevention and control, and preparing for mass casualty influxes.
- Raise the hospital’s profile with the local authorities and international partners, in order to mobilise new logistical and financial support for this region, which has largely been neglected by donors.
Epidemic outbreaks and a highly unstable security context
The humanitarian situation in Yemen remains one of the most complex in the world. More than 19.5 million people will need assistance by 2025, including 17.8 million without access to basic healthcare. Only half of the health facilities are still functioning, while epidemic outbreaks – cholera, dengue, malaria – continue to threaten already fragile communities.
Abyan, in particular, illustrates this fragility: more than 65,000 inhabitants of Lawdar require humanitarian aid, even though the hospital run by Mehad remains their only recourse. Against this backdrop of insecurity, the withdrawal of NGOs and a fall in international funding (with only 9% of the humanitarian response plan funded by mid-2025), Mehad has chosen to stay. This positioning is based on a solid partnership with the hospital, recognised by the local authorities and communities as essential to the survival of the population.
Objective: to ensure sustainable support for the population
As well as providing financial and technical support, Mehad is making this new phase part of a sustainability strategy. By consolidating staff skills and strengthening management and medical data collection systems, the NGO is paving the way for a structural improvement in the quality of care. It is also committed to advocating for greater mobilisation of international players in this neglected area.
“Our support for Lawdar is more than a humanitarian project: it’s a commitment to preserving vital access to healthcare for tens of thousands of people who have nowhere else to turn,” explains Pierre Catoire, the humanitarian doctor responsible for launching this second phase of operations in Yemen.
This second phase also aims, if the NGO’s resources and partnerships allow, to develop Mehad’s work in other parts of the country, where needs are also considerable, particularly on the west coast, where health centres have been hard hit in recent months by the withdrawal of many NGOs following the end of USAid funding.
While the future of Yemen remains uncertain, the continuation of this project illustrates Mehad’s determination to maintain, whatever the cost, a place of resilience and humanity in the heart of a battered country.
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