The World Bank Activities in Yemen
Yemen joined the World Bank (WB) in 1969. Since then, the
WB has been providing steady assistance (technical &
financial) to Yemen for combating and eliminating poverty,
as well as to foster sustainable economic growth. The WB
has supported more than 130 projects in Yemen with a total
assistance of over 2 Billion dollars.
The WB’s support has concentrated in the following four
areas: 1) Improving Governance; 2) Fostering Private
Investment; 3) Enhancing Human Capital; 4) Ensuring
Sustainable Development.
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1)
With respect to governance, WB is coordinating
with the government of Yemen (GOY) to improve the public
sector. Specifically, WB and GOY have addressed the
allocation of public resources, improving public services,
and reducing corruption by promoting accountability and
transparency. Indeed, reforms have also involved dealing
with the judiciary process, advancing efficiencies in the
civil service, and building local government capacities with
policies and procedures under the overall design of
decentralization. There are 19 governorates (i.e.,
provinces) in
Yemen, and each has its own local institutions and
authorities; More notably, the respective political bodies
therein have all been appointed via plebiscite – and there
are mechanisms also in place for referenda (if necessary) to
decide on important issues.
2)
With regard to private investment, WB aims to
engender an economic environment that will substantially
produce jobs and related employment opportunities. In order
to encourage private investment and productivity, WB has
helped GOY strengthen and update the judiciary system. Rules
and regulations, taxation codes and other legal requirements
have been restructured to abate impediments to investment
(foreign or domestic) and infuse greater business
competitiveness. Moreover, GOY has set up a specialized
entity – the General Investment Authority – entrusted with
the task of facilitating opportunities and operations for
investment.
3) In terms of human capital (a component crucial
to poverty alleviation), programs and projects have been put
in place for expansion of education and vocational training;
the betterment health/nutrition and medical care; and access
to information and communication technologies. As a result,
since 1990, general primary education enrollment rates have
increased from 57 to 78 percent by 2001. In particular,
female illiteracy has dropped from 87 to 75 percent, while
for males it has declined from 45 to 32 percent. Infant
mortality rates have also decreased from 110 (per 1000
births) to 79. Meanwhile, life expectancy has increased from
52 to 57.
4) For the sake of affording sustainable
development, the WB is helping to face the challenges
peculiar to
Yemen’s environment. The areas of concern include resolving
the country’s water predicament with measures to manage the
scarce water resources; combating factors that contribute to
desertification, and maintaining its unique biodiversity.
However, the acute priority is addressing the deep water
shortage due to climatic conditions, compounded by the
depletion of groundwater as a consequence of inefficient
human use for life-supporting functions (i.e., agriculture,
waste disposal, drinking and general household purposes).
Therefore, in order to garner sufficient water resources to
meet population growth and secure “carrying capacity”, both
urban and rural measures have been executed to promote soil
conservation, more modern irrigation methods have been
adopted, and public awareness announcements have been
launched on water conservation and effective use.
The table below
includes a complete list of active & proposed World Bank
projects implemented in Yemen as
of 2000.**
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* For
active and closed projects, the commitment amount at
Board approval is shown in US$ millions. This does
not reflect any cancellations. Proposed (pipeline)
and dropped projects show the forecast amount. The
commitment amount for projects in the pipeline is
indicative and may be modified during the project
preparation. |
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