Even in parts of southern Yemen where health facilities are open and vaccines cost nothing, many children still aren't getting vaccinated, and the reason has little to do with access. Fear of side effects, suspicion that free vaccines hide a foreign motive, and the fact that fathers hold the power to approve or refuse a vaccine while mothers do the caregiving all keep children unprotected in a country already battling severe measles and polio outbreaks. This briefing traces how the IRC, working with health workers, teachers, and religious leaders that families already trust, has pushed first-dose vaccination rates in these districts from 85% to 95% and cut the share of unvaccinated children by two-thirds. Building on this progress, the briefing calls for donors to

  • Protect immunization funding from broader budget cuts, and sequence any unavoidable reductions to preserve vaccination schedules already underway
  • Fund multi-year programming rather than single-cycle campaigns, since trust and norm change take sustained contact over time
  • Expand the community influencer model into new districts, including Al Shishr in Hadramout, and other governorates with similar profiles
  • Integrate the approach into Yemen's Ministry of Public Health and Population's routine immunization system so gains outlast this funding cycle
  • Invest in monitoring that tracks whether children complete their full vaccination schedule, not just whether they receive a first dose

Available documents & links