EMPHNET's work in Yemen started with supporting the establishment of Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program and expanded to focus on strengthening routine immunization and emergency response. 

EMPHNET's work in Yemen started with supporting the establishment of Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) whose residents and graduates play an important role in strengthening the national health system in areas of disease surveillance, public health research, outbreak investigation, and other areas within epidemiology. The support continued in the following years and building on this achievement, EMPHNET mobilized residents and graduates to scale up alert and response activities to several outbreaks, more recently COVID-19.  

EMPHNET's work in Yemen has expanded beyond FETP-related activities to supporting the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in strengthening the national immunization program. EMPHNET worked with the MOPH to empower the workers within the Expanded Program on Immunization through various means. 

In 2017, EMPHNET and the Ministry launched the Public Health Empowerment Program-Surveillance for Polio Officers (PHEP-SPO) with support from EMPHNET- an in-service training program designed to strengthen the capacities of governorate-level surveillance officers in the areas of surveillance and outbreak response and management. Two cohorts completed from this program with a total number of 51 graduates.

EMPHNET also supported national investments in supportive supervision as a means to empower frontline immunization workers. EMPHNET worked with the authorities to review and update supervisory checklists. Then, it supported training of provincial and regional supervisors on supportive supervision who later trained the EPI focal points at the district levels on the same topic.

With technical support from EMPHNET, the ministry worked to equip immunization workers with the skills needed to prepare and implement microplans- detailed planning used to reach hard-to-access communities, continuously and efficiently, became more urgent.

To harness the force of the community in combatting poliovirus outbreaks in war-torn Yemen, the MOPH and EMPHNET launched the Polio Village Volunteers project (PVV) in 2017, under which volunteers from high-risk districts of the country were trained to boost community-based surveillance (CBS) on acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and other vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in Yemen. An evaluation showed the non-polio AFP rate in children ≤15 years and the Adequacy Rate have increased in Yemeni districts where the PVVs were trained. EMPHNET will continue supporting the MOPH to expand this training to additional 30 priority districts in Yemen of low-performing and high-risk areas.

EMPHNET also worked closely with MOPH to support the National Center of Public Health Laboratory in strengthening their institutional biosafety program in line with recognized international standards and in building a national network of biosafety experts in Yemen.

In response to the cholera outbreaks and the emergency situation in Yemen, EMPHNET supported rapid response efforts in the country in 2018 by adapting the rapid response teams (RRT) training curriculum to the emergency context in Yemen and add Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) concepts. EMPHNET in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Environment used this curriculum to conduct a WASH training of trainers. During COVID-19, EMPHNET supported intensive training for RRTs and their subsequent deployments to the field. 

In 2019, EMPHNET, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration, supported the MoPHP’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) through conducting an assessment survey on the retention of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLNs) in selected districts in Ibb, Lahj, and Taiz. The survey provided guidance for more effective utilization of LLNs to contribute to improving district-level malaria control and to managing relevant capacity. Working with the World Health Organization with support from the World Bank and END Fund, EMPHNET and the MOPH to eliminate Onchocerciasis in Yemen by supporting the Ministry in conducting one round of Mass Drug Administration campaign to eliminate Onchocerciasis in 29 high endemic districts across 8 governorates.

EMPHNET's collaboration with Yemen was celebrated with the signing of A Memorandum of Understanding with the MOPH in early 2017 which was renewed in 2019.