Sharjah honours Yemeni charity for aiding refugees
sharjah — The Sustainable Development Foundation (SDF) in Yemen has won the first Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support.
The award is under the patronage of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, chairperson of the Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children.
The winner will get $100,000 to help continue its humanitarian efforts. The Yemeni foundation will be honoured at a special ceremony in Sharjah next Sunday.
Addressing the importance of the award as well as the significance of charitable and humanitarian efforts, Sheikha Jawaher said: “The Sustainable Development Foundation’s efforts in Yemen mark an honourable page in the history of its humanitarian achievements and underline that Yemeni people have love and hope in providing the support to those who need it most. The foundation’s initiatives have become worthy examples for many organisations and entities in the region to follow and they provide a
The efforts of SDF mark an honourable page in the history of its humanitarian achievements.” Sheikha Jawaher, Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children, UNHCR
unique motivation for young people to come together and help the vulnerable, sick and homeless.” In the past two years, the SDF implemented an array of outstanding initiatives and projects, which have improved the lives of tens of thousands of people, especially women and children, in nine Yemeni districts. The initiatives focused mainly on providing access to clean water, food, child protection, education and energy.
The SDF has also provided food for poor households, including food packages to 1,300 households in Sanaa and the Haraz region, 37,900 households in the Marib district, and 2,000 Ramadan breakfast meals to 200 additional households in Sanaa.
Supporting young refugees, the SDF implemented the ‘Emergency Crisis Response’ (cash-for-work) project, which provided 250 refugees in Hajjah with three-months of employment to help them meet their basic needs. It is introducing a similar scheme ‘Enhancing the Resilience of Rural Areas in Yemen’, to provide two-year temporary employment to 1,700 young men and women in Hajjah and Al Hudaydah.
The SDF has also conducted a number of important surveys that form invaluable statistical sources for humanitarian and refugee organisations.