{"id":8709,"date":"2021-11-12T12:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T12:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/?p=8709"},"modified":"2024-12-30T13:06:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T13:06:44","slug":"mental-health-care-in-yemen-were-finally-able-to-breathe-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/news\/mental-health-care-in-yemen-were-finally-able-to-breathe-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental health care in Yemen: ‘We\u2019re finally able to breathe again.’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to psychotherapist Dr Bilqis Jubari, one in three Yemenis suffers from a mental disorder. Most of them are women. And while the war rages on, Jubari continues her courageous efforts to expand and improve mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services, supported by donors and partners like the Dutch Embassy and Cordaid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr Bilqis Jubari, founder of the Family Counseling and Development Foundation (FCDF) in Yemen. Image: FCDF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr Bilqis Jubari is an associate professor and psychotherapist at Sana\u2019a University. In 2011, she was the first to set up public mental health services in Yemen. And while she and her teams in Sana\u2019a and Aden treat everyone suffering, women and girls are their first concern. ‘But you can\u2019t separate. If you treat a father who is mentally ill, you also alleviate the suffering of his wife and daughters,’ she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten years later, the positive impact of her pioneering work is undeniable. As is the need to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mental Health Care: Essential, Underfinanced, Neglected<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 and seven years of war have acutely aggravated psychological suffering and trauma. This increasingly damages people\u2019s health and well-being and erodes the country\u2019s peacebuilding and recovery efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put things into perspective, Yemen has only 46 psychiatrists, one for every 600.000 people. They can\u2019t even cater for a fraction of the needs. In 2017, three years into the war, UNFPA estimated that 11.3 million Yemeni people (30% of the population) need protection, and 2.6 million women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence. In the same year, the Family Counselling and Development Foundation (FCDF), founded by Dr. Jubari, pointed out that one in five Yemenis suffered from mental health disorders. Four years on, the suffering has only increased. Today, she thinks it\u2019s one in three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Community awareness session about psychosocial support to internally displaced Yemeni families. Image: FCDF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the pioneering work of Dr Jubari, mental health and psychosocial support remain underfinanced and neglected areas of public health in Yemen. Yet, with the support of donors and partners like the Dutch Embassy and Cordaid, she continues her courageous efforts to expand and improve MHPSS services while the war rages on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘From birth to death, fathers, brothers, and other close male relatives control the lives of women.’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the run-up to a Yemen conference that Cordaid hosted in December<\/a>, and where Dr Jubari was a keynote speaker, we had an in-depth interview with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Jubari, can you describe the scope of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It affects all aspects of life, for everyone, and undermines all public and private structures and institutions. The suffering increases every single day. Millions of people haven\u2019t been paid a salary for 5 years. Youth unemployment has reached 65%. Inflation and prices of basic commodities are skyrocketing. 82% of our people are living below the poverty line. One in three persons has a mental health disorder. Maternal and child healthcare is on the brink of collapse. Do I need to continue?’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You work a lot with women and girls. How are they affected differently from men and boys?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Women and girls structurally suffer from the inequality and the male domination that is part of a deeply conservative and tribal culture. This has been the case long before the war started seven years ago. From birth to death, fathers, brothers, and other close male relatives control the lives of women. This control comes with a whole spectrum of violence and deprivations. Forced early marriage, polygamy, no access to education, work, or property. No inheritance rights. Physical and mental abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mother or grown-up sister must obey a 13-year-old son or brother. For a man, it takes one word to end his marriage. It takes an impressive amount of legal effort for a woman to get a divorce. Then there\u2019s divorce shame. Her children are taken away from her, and she becomes an outcast. This gender-based discrimination is not based on religion. It is part of Yemen\u2019s tribal culture. You don\u2019t see that in Egypt or Jordan, for example.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yemeni women in this video are doing everything in their power to improve the situation in their country and tell us more about what we need to know and do to achieve peace:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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