: Providing life-saving victim assistance to conflict-affected populations in Taiz, Hudaydah, Al Dhale, Ma’rib, Lahaj, Abyan, Shabwa, Aden, Al Bayda, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, Amran, Dhamar, Hajjah, Ibb, Raymah, Sa'ada, Sana'a governorates /Priority 2 In 2020, DRC provided 1,124 conflict injured civilians access to critical medical services through Victims Assistance Programming (VA). The currently proposed intervention will continue DRCs VA programming in 2021 providing 1,000 adult men and women with access to critical medical services through the payment of medical bills as well as transportation, accommodation, and food allowance when required. All VA recipients will be assessed for additional needs/vulnerabilities. DRC will refer 260 VA recipients illustrating additional needs either directly or through Case Management to the required services. Additionally, through case management, 260 individuals/families will be provided with Cash for Protection including cash for referral to overcome socio-economic barriers in accessing additional critical services and/or Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) to mitigate/prevent identified protection concerns/risks. As a crucial part of DRC VA programming, 100 Community Based Protection Committee members will be trained on protection principles, DRC VA SoPs, and safe identification and referral ensuring the safe referral of Community identified VA cases. Finally, DRC will continue sharing 4 VA situation reports (snapshots) with the cluster in order to strengthen coordination and advocacy around the needs of conflict affected individuals. 

VA cases are identified and referred to DRC by Community Based Protection Committees or hospitals who have signed MoUs with DRC. The eligibility of each case is assessed according to the DRC VA SoP. VA beneficiaries must be civilians who were injured due to the conflict within the last six months. VA funds do not cover chronic illnesses or long term medical needs. In case of conflict related long term medical needs DRC will cover the emergency needs and refer the case to relevant long term health actors. Any VA beneficiary with additional support needs is eligible for referral assistance, where relevant services exit. VA beneficiaries with two or more additional needs, or protection concerns/vulnerabilities, are eligible for Case Management. Cash for protection is available for VA recipient illustrating an inability to access assistance they have been referred and accepted by as well as individuals/families who illustrate a specific protection concern/risk which can be prevented or mitigated through a onetime cash payment of 75,000 Riyal or less according to Protection Cluster standards. These criteria apply equally in all locations where DRC is conducting VA in Yemen.

As this project aims to support conflict injured civilians it is not possible to conduct traditional needs assessment. However, the necessity of the proposed intervention is clear through numerous assessments regarding the increasing humanitarian needs (OCHA Situation update November 2020), deteriorating socio-economic situation and barriers to accessing health services for Civilians (Health Resources and Service Availability Monitoring system, Yemen assessment), recorded incidents of direct attacks on civilians (Civilian Impact Monitoring Project Q1 amp Q2), as well as a lack of foreseeable end to the conflict in Yemen. In addition to DRC’s own assessment of needs based on current programming (DRC VA Snapshots amp Internal VA tracker). These assessments, along with the selected locations’ proximity to the front lines have resulted in DRCs proposal to continue Adult VA programming in Taiz, Al Bayda, Hodeidah, Hajjah, Sa’ada, Al Dhalea, and Sana’a.

DRC has been running VA programming in Yemen since 2012. Currently DRC is running VA programming for children, funded by UNICEF, and previously ran Adult VA programming in all of the proposed locations. As such, DRC has built a strong connection with local communities and hospitals which are vital for the success of VA programming. Therefore, DRC has the experience, technical expertise, community support, and contextual knowledge necessary to run the proposed VA program in 2021.