Amid calls for better social integration and inclusion, government officials have announced that UNICEF in partnership with the Social Welfare Fund (SWF) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour will launch a program in Taiz (Yemen’ second most populous metropolis) which aims to map out Yemen’s Akhdam community, aka, the Muhamasheen (the marginalized ones).
Keen to promote national and social cohesion way from all forms of segregation, might it be religious or ethnic, the coalition government confirmed it wants to build stronger social foundation as to facilitate growth and promote social stability, something UNICEF has long been campaigning for.
Often compared to the untouchables of India, the Akhdam of Yemen have always lived on the outskirts of society, shun by most for reasons which remain obscure.
While their origins are shadowy it has been said the Akhdam are descendants of Ethiopian soldiers, who, some centuries ago attempted to establish a dominion in Yemen Red Sea coastal area. One popular account holds that they are descendants of Nilotic Sudanese people who accompanied the Abyssinian army during the latter's occupation of Yemen in the pre-Islamic period. Once the Abyssinian troops were finally expelled at the start of the Muslim era, some of the Sudanese migrants are said to have remained behind, giving birth to the Akhdam. Another theory maintains that they are of Veddoid origin (from South Asia).
With only limited access to state amenities, the untouchables of Yemen continue to live in abject poverty, denied education and job opportunities on account of their ethnicity; it is such reality officials have said to be committed to change.
In order to better serve the Akhdam, UNICEF will begin collecting data over a six-week period throughout Taiz governorate.
“I have seen Muhamasheen communities that do not have water or latrines, where children do not go school and seldom visit health centres” says UNICEF’s Representative, Julien Harneis. “This survey will allow us to measure the size of the problem so that we can work together to solve it.”
The second phase of the program will determine how best to serve the community and finally devise of a strategy which will allow Yemen’s marginalized to reclaim their rights.
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