Women-led and popular initiatives have expanded in Yemen’s Taiz governorate to collect food, water, medicines and clothing and prepare convoys for government forces’ fighters, as clashes with Ansar Allah (the Houthis) have resumed on several fronts in the governorate since early September 2026, including the al-Kadha front west of Taiz.
Household initiatives expand to support the fronts
These initiatives are being carried out in homes, neighbourhoods and local communities away from the front lines. Women collect food, water and medicines, while others prepare meals and cakes and package supplies. In parallel, residents and donors are collecting contributions and organising convoys to transport basic necessities to the fronts. The activity coincided with clashes in Taiz on several axes in recent days.
Government forces said they had repelled a Houthi attack west of the governorate. The escalation has increased the pace of civilian efforts supporting the fighters, extending to their families, neighbourhoods and districts, rather than being limited to those on the front lines.
Taiz women link aid to the return of fighting
Naseem Mohammed, one of the participants in initiatives supporting the government forces’ fronts, said the resumption of aid preparations came in response to the return of fighting and the needs it had created on the front lines. She linked the latest mobilisation to the intensification of the war and siege on Taiz since early September, explaining that women felt a responsibility towards those at the fronts.
Naseem added: "In those difficult circumstances, we felt that we had a responsibility towards those standing on the front lines and defending the city, and that our role as women should not stop at the boundaries of our homes." On this basis, popular initiatives resumed their activities, with each participant contributing whatever food, water and other daily necessities she could provide.
Naseem believes support for fighters takes more than one form and is not confined to the military sphere. She said: "We believe that support does not necessarily have to be through weapons; it could be a meal, a bottle of water, medicine or a word that raises morale, but it reaches whoever needs it at the right time." The initiatives rely on contributions from residents and donors rather than a single organisation.
Those running the initiatives publish lists of needs among families and trusted individuals, and use social media to reach contributors. Once in-kind donations are received, they are sorted, prepared and arranged for transport to the fronts. Through this mechanism, limited contributions from families or individuals are combined into larger consignments.
A home providing flour or water, or a woman preparing food, may be the starting point. The supplies then pass to teams responsible for packing and wrapping them before being incorporated into a convoy heading to the forces on the front lines. As needs grew, women’s participation became more organised and was no longer limited to preparing food at home.
Women’s efforts develop into organised committees
The efforts now include collecting donations, purchasing, preparing and packaging supplies, coordinating convoys, and helping provide medical supplies and clothing suitable for different seasons. Najat Mohammed Qaed, one of the participants in Taiz women’s initiatives, said the activity initially took the form of personal efforts before developing into committees and initiatives coordinating women’s contributions.
The supplies being prepared include cooked meals, tinned goods, dry food and water, as well as dressings and basic medicines. The aid also includes winter clothing, blankets and raincoats, depending on the season and the nature of the needs.
These supplies are collected through individual initiatives and women’s committees, with the participation of fighters’ wives, daughters and sisters. They use direct communication, WhatsApp messages and social media platforms, as well as charity markets and auctions. Contributions vary according to the ability of each family or participant: some provide flour or money, while others cook meals, and another group prepares cakes for dispatch.
Women also take part in sewing and preparing clothing, packing and wrapping supplies, and organising convoys, alongside activities aimed at raising the morale of those at the fronts. Israa al-Tayeb, one of the participants in these efforts, described how the work is based on a division of roles within the team.
One participant collects money, another buys the required supplies and a third prepares them, while female doctors help prepare medical convoys bound for the fronts. According to Israa, these initiatives are not solely a response to the current escalation; they began when the war broke out in 2015, when women in Taiz started providing fighters with food, water and medicines.
The latest clashes have reactivated those skills and networks, directing efforts towards needs arising from the ongoing fighting. Naseem explained her reasons for participating: "I cannot sit with my hands folded while I see young men giving their lives so that we can live safely, sleep and go out into the street feeling secure."
She believes that any contribution, regardless of its size, allows her to participate from her own position and conveys to the fighters that they are not facing these circumstances alone. Najat Mohammed Qaed, for her part, linked her return to the initiatives to the resumption of fighting, describing participation as an ethical, national and emotional duty towards Taiz and its residents. She said: "When the fighting returned, we all had to return to defend our land and our dignity, to defend our Yemen."
Israa al-Tayeb believes that the significance of aid is not limited to the material value of food, medicine or water; it also expresses the affection and support offered by women and residents to those at the fronts. This is reflected in the distribution of tasks among participants and the continuation of the work from collecting donations through to delivering the supplies.
Al-Ma’afer convoy reaches the al-Kadha front
The activity moved from household and local initiatives to the organisation of larger convoys travelling directly to the fronts. In mid-September, the local authority and community groups in Al-Ma’afer district sent a food and relief convoy to the al-Kadha front west of Taiz, carrying food, water and shelter supplies.
Taiz Deputy Governor Mohammed Abdulaziz al-Sanwi said Al-Ma’afer district had provided the convoy to support those at the al-Kadha front. He noted that another convoy had preceded it on the first day of the escalation, reflecting the continuation of local efforts alongside developments in the fighting in the area.
Abdulsalam Aqlan al-Suhaibi, a community figure from Al-Ma’afer district, said the convoy represented a contribution by district residents to supporting the forces at the front. He affirmed their readiness to provide support to other fronts inside Taiz governorate, according to needs and developments on the ground.
Al-Ma’afer media director Aref al-Sarouri said the convoy was intended to support and assist the fighters at the front. These convoys complement smaller efforts that begin in homes, markets and women’s committees, before the collected materials become organised aid ready for transport.
As clashes continue on Taiz’s fronts, work is continuing in kitchens and preparation sites. Families are collecting contributions according to their means, after which convoys transport them from the districts to the front lines. Participation ranges from preparing a meal, providing medicine and water, sewing clothes, or collecting money and handling purchasing and packaging.
Naseem Mohammed sums up the moral purpose she associates with these initiatives in a message to those on the front lines: "You are not alone." The participants and families are seeking to deliver this message in practice by continuing to collect, prepare and send necessities to the fronts alongside the fighting.
