SCS in the Middle East and North Africa

SCS initiated its operations in the Middle East and North Africa region in 1963 with service provision and support to capacity building, mainly in the area of health, in the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen). This included a hospital in the town of Taiz that is still known as the “Swedish hospital”. The SCS office in the capital, Aden, worked jointly with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in providing immunisation for children and capacity building of health cadres and institutions. SCS also built and furnished Aden Health Institute (currently Amin Nasher Institute for Health Sciences) and primary health care offices.

In 1990 South and North Yemen were united and formed the current Republic of Yemen. The SCS – or Radda Barnen, as the organisation is still known in Yemen – country office is, since then, located in the capital, Sana’a. The office in Aden is maintained and most research and practical support is still carried out in the southern part of the country while advocacy at national level and cooperation with government authorities are managed from Sana’a.

In the early 1990s, the SCS programme began to change and support increasingly focused on the rights of the child and on more countries in the region. Cooperation with civil society was initiated, and in 1995 SCS was instrumental in the establishment of the Yemeni Child Rights Coalition (currently named the Yemeni Coalition for Child Rights Care). In the late 1980s, SCS initiated support for health services to the people and areas under the control of West Saharan Liberation Movement, POLISARIO. This support was handed over to the organisation Care in 1996. SCS also supported projects in areas such as health and disability, in Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank. For various reasons this support was ended in the late 1980s.

The peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) in the 1990s and the Oslo agreement in 1993, which was supposed to be the first step towards an independent Palestinian state created new opportunities in the Middle East region. In 1994 the SCS board decided that a programme for the region should be developed. An office was established in Jerusalem in 1997 and activities were initiated in the West Bank and Gaza as well as in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Because of the lack of rights for the Palestinian child in Lebanon the SCS board in 1998 decided to establish a programme for this country. In 2000, the regional office was moved from Sana’a to Beirut.

The most important programme areas for the Middle East and North Africa programme are violence and abuse against children, education, child participation, discrimination and civil society organisational development.

SCS cooperates with almost 40 partner organisations and allies in the region. Most of them are local NGOs, semi-governmental associations and community based organisations providing services and working for the enhancement of the rights of the child in their local contexts. Some are organisations with national coverage: higher councils for childhood, government ministries and national coalitions of NGOs. SCS cooperates with UN agencies covering the whole region or several countries in the region, such as the UNICEF, UNHCR and UNESCO.

More than half of the partner organisations and allies are located in Yemen and the programme is centred round Yemen, the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon. 

Among the International Save the Children Alliance members, SC UK and SC US are present in the region with offices in several countries and SC Denmark has a limited presence in Jordan. SC Spain runs some projects in Morocco and SC Italy supports projects in Libya. In the region there are also two local SC members; SC Jordan and SC Egypt.

This regional strategy outlines goals for thematic as well as geographical priorities during the period until 2014, based on an assessment of the situation in the region and the opportunities and problems it provides.