2025 - Yemen - Humanitarian Livelihoods Assistance - Photo by NMO
With professional toolkits in hand, the trainees are now ready to turn skills into action. These start-up kits mark a crucial step toward self-employment, enabling participants to launch their small businesses and apply what they’ve learned directly in the field.
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For nearly a decade, Taiz governorate in Yemen has been at the heart of one of the world’s most protracted conflicts. A new initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by Cordaid in partnership with the local NGO Nahda Makers Organisation (NMO) is offering a lifeline.
Daily life in Taiz is marked by displacement, insecurity, and grinding poverty. In the districts of Mawza and Al-Maafer, the war’s frontline scars run deep: families forced to flee violence now crowd into host communities already stretched beyond their limits. Food prices climb as incomes vanish, and with few opportunities to earn a living, families are increasingly forced into desperate survival strategies – borrowing, skipping meals, or sending children to work.
Against this bleak backdrop, Cordaid and NMO aim to restore people’s ability to support themselves. By doing so, it seeks to break the cycle of dependency on international aid that many Yemenis face.
Over the course of 18 months, the project directly supported 450 of the most vulnerable people – half of them women, many of them displaced by conflict, and some living with disabilities. Participants took part in an eight-week vocational training programme tailored to market needs and local opportunities. Training covered practical skills such as mobile phone repair, sewing, carpentry, and hairdressing – skills that can quickly generate income even in unstable conditions.
What makes this programme stand out is its holistic design. Participants are selected from households currently receiving emergency cash assistance through the Yemen Cash Consortium, which the European Union also funds.
This cash support ensures that families can meet their most urgent needs – food, medicine, and shelter – while they participate in vocational training. Without this safety net, many would not be able to attend courses or plan for the future.
The training, combined with start-up kits and follow-up coaching, is specifically designed to help participants transition from aid dependency towards long-term self-reliance. It is this combination – covering immediate needs while building sustainable livelihoods – that gives the programme its strength.
To ensure people can turn new skills into livelihoods, 400 of the 450 participants received business start-up kits worth up to $500. These are tailored to individual business plans and followed by six months of coaching and mentoring. Life skills training complements technical instruction, with modules on financial literacy, climate-conscious practices, and basic health and hygiene – all designed to strengthen resilience in a fragile environment.
For women, the programme offers a crucial opening. In Taiz, where cultural barriers often limit access to work, the project creates space for female-headed households and provides safe, accessible environments for their participation.
2025 - Yemen - Humanitarian Livelihoods Assistance - Photo by NMO
With professional toolkits in hand, the trainees are now ready to turn skills into action. These start-up kits mark a crucial step toward self-employment, enabling participants to launch their small businesses and apply what they’ve learned directly in the field.
---
For nearly a decade, Taiz governorate in Yemen has been at the heart of one of the world’s most protracted conflicts. A new initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by Cordaid in partnership with the local NGO Nahda Makers Organisation (NMO) is offering a lifeline.
Daily life in Taiz is marked by displacement, insecurity, and grinding poverty. In the districts of Mawza and Al-Maafer, the war’s frontline scars run deep: families forced to flee violence now crowd into host communities already stretched beyond their limits. Food prices climb as incomes vanish, and with few opportunities to earn a living, families are increasingly forced into desperate survival strategies – borrowing, skipping meals, or sending children to work.
Against this bleak backdrop, Cordaid and NMO aim to restore people’s ability to support themselves. By doing so, it seeks to break the cycle of dependency on international aid that many Yemenis face.
Over the course of 18 months, the project directly supported 450 of the most vulnerable people – half of them women, many of them displaced by conflict, and some living with disabilities. Participants took part in an eight-week vocational training programme tailored to market needs and local opportunities. Training covered practical skills such as mobile phone repair, sewing, carpentry, and hairdressing – skills that can quickly generate income even in unstable conditions.
What makes this programme stand out is its holistic design. Participants are selected from households currently receiving emergency cash assistance through the Yemen Cash Consortium, which the European Union also funds.
This cash support ensures that families can meet their most urgent needs – food, medicine, and shelter – while they participate in vocational training. Without this safety net, many would not be able to attend courses or plan for the future.
The training, combined with start-up kits and follow-up coaching, is specifically designed to help participants transition from aid dependency towards long-term self-reliance. It is this combination – covering immediate needs while building sustainable livelihoods – that gives the programme its strength.
To ensure people can turn new skills into livelihoods, 400 of the 450 participants received business start-up kits worth up to $500. These are tailored to individual business plans and followed by six months of coaching and mentoring. Life skills training complements technical instruction, with modules on financial literacy, climate-conscious practices, and basic health and hygiene – all designed to strengthen resilience in a fragile environment.
For women, the programme offers a crucial opening. In Taiz, where cultural barriers often limit access to work, the project creates space for female-headed households and provides safe, accessible environments for their participation.