LocationsFrom emergency cash to a sustainable income
August 31, 2026
Suha manages her wedding supplies rental business in Taiz.
Integrated support is helping Yemeni women participate in economic life
Yemen is a country of complex challenges – from protracted conflict to widespread food insecurity to detrimental impacts of climate change, the crises are compounded. The result is the decimation of basic services and, according to UN statistics, 18.3 Yemenis are experiencing food insecurity. Opportunities to lift families out of poverty by allowing them to earn a sustainable income are paramount to combatting the prevalence of malnutrition.
Investment for the long term
In Yemen, rural women carry the responsibility of caring for their families but often lack the resources to do so. They also lack access to the financial tools – savings accounts, e-wallets and small-business opportunities – to support their livelihoods.
This is a situation that 33-year-old Suha, from Dhi al-Bara’a village in Taiz Governorate, knows too well. With no steady finances, she relied on temporary, low-paid jobs to cover her family’s most basic needs.
“It was a very difficult time,” she recalls. “I was the sole breadwinner, but I had no real income to help with family expenses, let alone save or plan for the future. My days were filled with housework, caring for my disabled father and endless searching for a stable job.”
This daily struggle often forced her family into debt.
“There were many necessities that we could not afford,” explains Suha. “Every penny was spent as soon as it came in.”
The first step towards self-sufficiency came when Suha joined the cash-for-nutrition programme, part of UNDP’s Emergency Social Protection Enhancement and COVID-19 Response Project.
“I joined as a health educator and received a temporary financial incentive,” Suha says. “After training on maternal and child health, I was able to visit mothers at home, provide nutrition counselling and hold awareness sessions on behavioural and health problems.”
Suha conducting a nutritional screening for a young child.
While her new role offered work and some money, it also highlighted how crucial women’s financial empowerment is pulling families out of poverty: however, health awareness and temporary cash support can only go so far.
This is where simultaneous interventions allow women to drive their own futures.
For example, cash-for-nutrition was linked with Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and e-wallets, offering women, including Suha, practical tools for financial management and saving that can evolve into small income-generating projects.
How Suha’s business started
“There were many necessities that we could not afford,” explains Suha. “Every penny was spent as soon as it came in.”
The first step towards self-sufficiency came when Suha joined the cash-for-nutrition programme, part of UNDP’s Emergency Social Protection Enhancement and COVID-19 Response Project.
“I joined as a health educator and received a temporary financial incentive,” Suha says. “After training on maternal and child health, I was able to visit mothers at home, provide nutrition counselling and hold awareness sessions on behavioural and health problems.”
Women participate in a community saving and funding group meeting.
This element of the project sees mothers and health educators encouraged to participate in VSLAs – groups that provide crucial support that goes far beyond loans. They offer training in business development and vocation and the use of digital financial tools that allow rural women to access and manage money in ways otherwise impossible given geographical and cultural restrictions. VSLAs empower women and provide community support.
Through her local VSLA, Suha was offered training courses on business planning, feasibility studies and management, gaining the skills and knowledge she needed to launch her own small business and generate a steady income.
“The temporary financial support I received did not provide a stable life, but it gave me the opportunity to join a VSLA,” she says. “I was sceptical at first – unsure if I could actually get funding through the association,” Suha admits. “But after seeing how efficiently the process was managed, I grew more confident in the project.”
Before receiving funding to start their own businesses, women complete a full savings cycle.
Suha got her first loan from the group.
“That loan was not just money; it was a chance to launch my wedding supplies rental business.”
Suha invested her loan in buying traditional dresses, floral arches, seating arrangements, and handcrafted ceremonial accessories. In rural Taiz, purchasing these wedding essentials outright places a heavy financial strain on families. Suha’s rental business met an essential community need in her village, and she was able to turn it into a source of steady income for her and her family.
Suha receiving her first loan to launch her small enterprise.
Suha also emphasises the impact that digital finance has had on her business.
“Financial transactions used to be tiring and time consuming, involving cash or trips to money transfer offices at the city,” she explains. “With an e-wallet, I can securely manage funds, maintain cash flow and simplify buying, selling and payments. It also keeps a digital record of every transaction.”
Suha describes services like this as offering “self-reliance”.
“This project has brought me immense joy,” says Suha. “I now earn a steady income, can manage expenses better and help my family. It has not only transformed my life, but it has also improved the living conditions of my family.”
Using e-wallets simplifies financial transactions for rural women.
With support from the World Bank’s International Development Association, UNDP Yemen has worked alongside Yemen’s Social Fund for Development (SFD) to empower rural women by moving from short-term assistance to sustainable incomes through women-led small businesses. Each element of the project works in tandem with others for a lasting result that spreads through rural communities. The impact is reflected not only in better health and increased household incomes, but also in the enhanced capacity for women to plan, save, and manage family resources.
Suha’s journey serves as an example of what rural women can do with the right support, reducing dependence on humanitarian aid, reinforcing household resilience, and playing an active role in sustainable development.
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