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Yemen
The Development Challenge: Following unification of Marxist South Yemen and North Yemen in 1990, the new Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) made impressive progress with the establishment of a constitutional government, a parliamentary system with multiparty elections, and laws to strengthen non-governmental organizations. The new government has also begun to decentralize resource allocation decisions and local management of social services, and define development goals. The ROYG has demonstrated a strong commitment to stabilization and reform through price and market liberalization, fiscal prudence, liberalization of foreign exchange and trade, and striving to cut foreign debt and increase foreign exchange reserves. However, increasing democracy and development have been threatened by the emergence of international terrorism in Yemen, such as the al-Qa'eda bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000; the attack on the M/V Limburg in October 2002; and the murder of three American NGO health workers in Jibla Hospital in December 2002. As a result, the USG's foreign policy interests in Yemen are to expand the USG and ROYG partnership against terrorism, to neutralize al-Qa'eda's ability to threaten US interests both inside and from Yemen, and to enhance regional security by building a close partnership between the US and Yemeni military.
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To achieve these goals, USG development assistance will reinforce diplomatic, military, law enforcement, counter terrorism and intelligence cooperation. USG resources are especially needed in remote governorates where terrorists have received support and safe-haven from local tribal leaders who often do not recognize the authority of the ROYG. These remote areas are very poor and their populations suffer from some of the worst health and education indicators in the Middle East. Among the many challenges that Yemen faces are a low per capita GDP of $465, a high population growth rate of 3.5%, an unemployment rate of 18%, a high infant and child mortality rate, a high maternal mortality rate of 1,400 per 100,000 births, and dwindling oil and water reserves. Furthermore, the country's land base suffers from overgrazing, deforestation, erosion, desertification, and soil salinization.
The USAID Program: USAID's overall goal in Yemen is to support USG foreign policy objectives in the war on terrorism by helping to develop a healthy and educated population with access to diverse economic opportunities. To gain support from tribal leaders for the ROYG decentralization, development, democracy and counter terrorism objectives, the USAID program will quickly create jobs, increase income, and improve health, education, and community empowerment. The program will focus on the five target governorates of Amran, Sa'ada, Al-Jawf, Marib and Shabwa, long known to be the main sources of, and havens for, domestic and international terrorists in Yemen.
USAID/Yemen programs will improve the delivery of tangible, practical support in basic sectors (health, education, agriculture) that touch the lives of the average Yemeni living in the target governorates. FY 2004 and FY 2005 ESF funds will be used to expand programs in basic education, health and agriculture previously described in the FY 2004 Congressional Budget Justification and in the September 2003 Congressional Notification for the FY 2003 ESF carry-over funds. Limited amounts of USAID funds will also be used to assist the ROYG to build the context for sustainable development through policy initiatives in the program sectors. USAID plans to amend the Yemen Interim Strategy 2003-2006 to include a new Special Objective in Democracy and Governance. USAID will notify Congress through established procedures prior to obligating funds for any revised efforts.
Other Program Elements: In addition to the resources requested in the Yemen data sheets, USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance manages programs to improve the electoral process, increase the capacity and the role of the parliament, local councils and political parties, strengthen the rule of law and bolster women's legal and political rights. These activities will be transferred to USAID/Yemen in FY 2004 after the USAID Strategy has been amended as mentioned above. The core of these activities has been funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). MEPI also funds the USAID-managed Yemen Adult Life-skills Literacy Education (YALLE) Program, implemented by Care International in the target governorate of Amran and the Yemen Internet in the Schools Project.
Other Donors: USAID coordinates very closely with the donor community to assure that the impact of relatively scarce donor resources is maximized in response to the nearly overwhelming needs in Yemen. In terms of health, following the United States, the three largest bi-lateral donors in health for 2004 are Germany ($3.74 million), the United Kingdom ($3.74 million), and the Netherlands ($2.24 million). The Netherlands, Germany and the World Bank have taken a strong lead in donor coordination, especially relating to donor support of Yemen's Health Sector Reform proposal. The Japanese continue to have a modest hardware orientated program. Four multilateral donors also have significant health programs in Yemen in 2004: World Bank ($10 million); UNFPA ($2.4 million); WHO ($2 million); the European Union ($6.23 million in 2004); and UNICEF ($2.1 million). However, almost none of these donors work in the five remote governorates targeted by USAID.
In education, the two largest bi-lateral donors in education are the Netherlands ($18.6 million) and Germany ($9.2 million) in planned levels for 2004. The Japanese and the United Kingdom will begin modest programs in basic education in 2004. There are also three multilateral donors with significant basic education programs in Yemen in 2004: the World Bank ($24.7 million), the World Food Program ($6.3 million), and UNICEF ($2.6 million). A range of donors (World Bank, Germany, IFAD, UNDP, FAO, Netherlands, Abu-Dhabi Fund, Islamic Bank) are providing approximately $20 million per year in agriculture projects, but, none of this assistance reaches poor farmers (especially women) in the USAID five target governorates.
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