Yemen-based Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development group has won the prestigious UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award, a special prize that recognizes extraordinary humanitarian work aiding refugees, internally displaced or stateless people, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th September, 2021) Yemen-based Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development group has won the prestigious UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award, a special prize that recognizes extraordinary humanitarian work aiding refugees, internally displaced or stateless people, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced on Wednesday.
The organization, which was founded in 2017, won the award for its support for the displaced people of Yemen. Its founder Ameen Jubran, 37, has himself been displaced by the conflict and nearly killed.
"The areas where we work are considered to be among the most impoverished, and also the most dangerous. We felt the danger every day but, despite that, we had displaced people and others who needed our help. We couldn't just leave them behind without providing them with assistance," Jubran said.
Jeel Albena has over 160 employees and is supported by an additional 230 volunteers, many of whom are also displaced. Based in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah, the group has provided jobs and around 18,000 emergency shelters for those internally displaced and living in the provinces of Hudaydah and Hajjah.
"The extraordinary work carried out by you and your team, and your perseverance in helping Yemenis from all backgrounds, is an example of humanity, compassion and dedication," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said, speaking of Jubran.
Yemen has been engulfed in an internal conflict between government forces and the Houthi movement since August 2014. The situation in the middle Eastern nation is further complicated after Saudi Arabia joined the conflict on the Yemeni government's side in 2015 and began conducting occasional air, land and sea operations against the Islamist rebel movement.
Since February 2020, the rebels have been conducting a large-scale military operation to seize the Marib province and its administrative center � an important political, military and economic center that hosts the headquarters of the defense ministry and the army's leadership.
