Cash for Work offers jobs to Yemen's displaced

Yemenis who have been displaced to the Sanaa area as a result of the war are finding a temporary source of income through the World Bank-funded Cash for Work project, which pays people to carry out public service work.

Cash for Work, an Emergency Crisis Response Project designed to benefit internally displaced persons (IDPs) and those affected by the war, was launched January 17th by Amin Jamaan, mayor of the Sanaa administrative district.

The project, which is being implemented by the World Bank's Social Fund for Development (SFD), creates temporary jobs and provides a public service by putting people to work to clear rainwater drainage channels and similar projects.

The project aims to provide temporary work opportunities to generate income for IDPs in four directorates of Sanaa -- al-Sabeen, Maain, al-Thawra and Bani Hareth -- as a first step, with plans to later expand into other areas.

"This project will measurably improve the economic situation of IDPs and the needy in the context of serving the community, improving their income levels and turning them from aid recipients to active and productive members of society," Jamaan said at the Cash for Work launch.

Public works to be undertaken include the clearance of storm drains and channels and the removal of debris from streets, said Walid Rasaa, deputy director of Public Works and Projects for the Sanaa administrative district.

The project has $800,000 in SFD funding, with equipment provided by the Sanaa administrative district, he said.

A source of income

The Cash for Work project, launched in Sanaa, "is one in a series of projects being implemented by SFD with funding from the World Bank", said Abdul Wahab al-Ashwal, a community officer with the Cash for Work project at SFD.

The series of projects have received $8 million in funding for 2016 and 2017, which covers all Yemeni provinces, he told Al-Mashareq.

The aim is to create sources of income, "even if temporary, to improve the living standards of targeted beneficiaries, including IDPs and those affected by the war and conflict", he said.

The project is focusing on districts with high levels of population displacement, he said, and is presenting projects that serve the community and create jobs for displaced people living in these areas.

In rural areas, input is sought from local residents to help identify the type of project that would best serve their community, he added.

"The number of targeted households [in Sanaa] is 1,445, while the number of working IDPs and affected [individuals] is 3,442," SFD Sanaa branch director Mohammed Ghamdan told Al-Mashareq.

Jobs for the displaced

IDPs make up 90% of the Cash for Work workforce, said Saddam al-Ward, assistant community officer with the Sanaa branch of SFD.

The jobs they perform do not require a high level of skill and are within the capabilities of most people, he told Al-Mashareq.

The project pays an average daily wage of 3,000 Yemeni riyals ($16), he said, which helps people who have lost their jobs due to displacement meet their daily needs.

Some IDPs have not had jobs since their displacement, he added, while others are scraping by with menial jobs such as collecting empty plastic water bottles from the streets, which only earns them about 300 riyals ($1) per day.

"The job opportunity made possible by the Cash for Work project has restored my hope in regaining my normal life with my family," said Abdullah Mohammed Saeed, who was displaced from Saadah province at the outbreak of the war.

Saeed, who now lives in Sanaa and is providing for his wife and seven children under the age of 12, told Al-Mashareq the four-month job will provide a steady income that will help him support his family and secure better housing.

Work for men and women

In Sanaa's Maain district, the project targets 356 displaced families and those affected by the war by securing jobs for 1,100 members of those families, Cash for Work project director in Maain district Anwar al-Nawari told Al-Mashareq.

Jobs in the projects to clear storm drains and landscape median strips are set aside for male workers or displaced families headed by men, he said.

"On the other hand, we set aside jobs involving cleaning and enhancing parks in the district for families headed by women who had lost their husbands or breadwinners in the [conflict]," he said.

This way, women are able to join the labour force and earn money to ease their burden and help them cope with the circumstances they are experiencing as a result of the war and their displacement, al-Nawari said.