Deputy GNC Coordinator Mission to Yemen: Strengthening Nutrition Coordination and Partner Engagement

From 12-22 April 2026, Dr. Rasha Al Ardhi, Deputy Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) Coordinator, visited Yemen to provide strategic and technical support to the Nutrition Cluster, support collaboration with national authorities and partners, and support adaptation of nutrition services to a shifting operational environment. The mission brought together government counterparts, UN agencies, national and international NGOs, OCHA, and SUN Movement representatives to review coordination priorities, emerging challenges, and opportunities to reinforce coordinated action amid funding constraints.

Updates on GNC Strategic Priorities and Partner Support

During meetings with the Nutrition Cluster Coordination Team and UNICEF management, Dr. Al Ardhi presented updates on the humanitarian reset and cluster simplification approach, the new GNC Strategy 2026-2029, and localisation as a core priority. She highlighted the range of GNC support available to partners and encouraged them to request support through the GNC website.

Discussions also covered the ABC approach, referred to in Yemen as Regional Coordination Teams (RCTs), which was positively received for bringing multi‑sectoral coordination closer to communities, and the importance of evidence‑based planning, including continued data collection in hard‑to‑reach areas. Re‑prioritisation efforts and the JIAF methodology were noted as essential to ensuring high‑malnutrition areas are included in PiN calculations.

Key operational issues included the need to expand engagement with Civil Society Organisations, strengthen prevention‑focused nutrition programming, and advance the review of national wasting management guidelines – particularly in light of WFP’s phase‑out from large parts of the country. UNICEF’s current coverage of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and high‑risk moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) was discussed, alongside the need to broaden high risk MAM criteria and explore options for addressing the remaining caseload.

The update also highlighted strong local and national actor (LNA) leadership in sub‑national coordination, progress on securing resources for co‑coordination, and ongoing work to develop a continuous learning pathway for LNAs. Evidence generation remains a priority, with funding secured for a SMART survey, to be implemented through the Ministry of Health and the Yemen Statistics Office. Finally, the cluster’s CVA (Cash and Voucher Assistance) activities are ongoing, with harmonisation of rates identified as a key issue to be addressed in the upcoming Yemen CVA implementation guide discussions.

Partner Engagement and Key Discussions

Conversations with the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MoPHP) focused on funding shortfalls, the growing role of NGO partners in implementation, review of national CMAM guidelines, the need to scale up coverage of high-risk MAM in areas where WFP has phased out, monitoring gaps, and opportunities related to World Bank funding.

Meetings with the OCHA covered the implementation of Regional Coordination Teams (RCTs) as the Yemen adaptation of the ABC model, expanding operational space for NNGOs, harmonisation of CVA guidelines, the now-ready anticipatory action (AA) framework to be anchored under the GNC AA Working Group, participation of national NGOs in coordination structures, and alignment of coordination mechanisms with national-level structures.

Discussions with UNICEF, WFP, and WHO included WFP's three-year strategy and transition plan, changes to food assistance modalities and MAM management, community- and facility-level nutrition surveillance, sustainability of stabilisation centres and support for referral hospitals, UNICEF's hybrid implementation modality, review of national CMAM guidelines and high-risk MAM criteria, procurement and delivery of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), and community-level roll-out of MAMI guidelines.

Meetings with national and international NGOs, IRC, and NC partners focused on localisation, technical capacity strengthening of national NGOs, donor engagement, funding challenges, operational constraints, advocacy to keep Yemen high on the humanitarian agenda, and supply and delivery mechanisms as as well as development of a localisation action plan

Discussions with the SUN Movement highlighted updates on national and sub-national multi-sectoral nutrition action plans, including district-level plans in Taiz and Lahj developed jointly by humanitarian and development actors. Ongoing collaboration between SUN and the GNC HDN Working Group was also noted, alongside the establishment of a Nexus Working Group in Aden. Partners discussed opportunities for closer joint advocacy to maintain and scale sub-national plans, with SUN supporting links between donors and cluster coordinators.
 

Mission Recommendations

Recommendations from the mission included strengthening complementarity among the key agencies; reviewing national wasting management guidelines and high-risk MAM criteria; strengthening inter-cluster collaboration; continuing collaboration with the SUN Movement; and exploring more effective use of local resources.

Additional recommendations included enhancing coordination through reinforcing the role of national coordination counterparts in engagement with the MoPHP, and addressing capacity gaps through blended training and technical support, including NiE advisory support. Further priorities included documenting national NGO involvement in sub-national coordination and multi-sectoral action plans, continuing advocacy for evidence generation and localisation, and supporting INGOs and NNGOs to expand coverage where needed.

The recommendations also emphasised maintaining global attention on Yemen through strengthened advocacy, including a potential Call to Action and global advocacy events.