Date of Submission

Spring 2021

Academic Program

Global Public Health; Human Rights

Project Advisor 1

Helen Epstein

Project Advisor 2

Thomas Keenan

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This project aims to establish the existence of informal community female-led health networks within Yemen and understand the functions of these health networks and how they have been impacted by the ongoing internal conflict in the country. Female health networks exist globally in both informal and formal sectors. But, the extent to which female health networks function and their importance is unique to Yemen, and there has been no scholarly work focusing on this phenomenon. This paper will use the information gained from 52 interviews with Yemeni women and available literature to understand the current formal and informal health systems in Yemen. I found that informal community female-led health networks have been strengthened to support communities that lack adequate health systems and have evolved instinctively as a necessary response to provide mutual aid. Women from all sects of life participate in these networks and have taken on roles that are unsubsidized in order to aid in the maintenance of community health. Women in Yemen have organized effectively to create a profusion of support networks across the country at various levels to improve the quality of life for other women and Yemeni society at large. In regions that experience heightened levels of conflict and health infrastructure destruction, informal community female-led health networks have grown and are more heavily relied upon by other women and the community.

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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