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Yemen

EXAMPLES OF OUR IMPACT

• USAID brought health care services to more than 97,886 people in target governorates.
• An estimated 7,000 students have benefited from USAID-sponsored life skills classes.
• USAID is partnering with Yemen’s Ministry of Agriculture to improve the marketing and trade capacity of farming associations and cooperatives.

CONTACTS
USAID Representative
Dr. Jeffrey Ashley
USAID/Yemen
6330 Sanaa Place
Washington, DC 20521-6330
Tel: 967-1-755-2197

Desk Officer
Christopher Kisco
Tel: (202) 712-1027
Email: ckisco@usaid.gov

USAID provides educational opportunities for children in rural Yemen. (Photo: USAID/Yemen Education Team)

Overview

Yemen’s government has taken meaningful steps toward substantive political and economic reforms since 2006. Yemen’s ranking in the United Nations Human Development Report has improved. Yemen is now ranked 138 out of 179 countries, compared with a ranking of 153 in 2007. Despite this progress, however, Yemen remains one of the least developed countries in the world.

Programs

Governing Justly and Democratically
Yemen's government ranks below the 25th percentile globally in its effectiveness. This low ranking is indicative of much-needed reform within the government. USAID assists the Yemeni government in its efforts to promulgate its National Decentralization Strategy, as well as to strengthen the planning, budgeting, and management capability of local councils at the governorate and district levels.

USAID also provides training and expertise to Yemen’s parliament and assists the government with anticorruption reforms. USAID programs improve the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum’s ability to implement its responsibilities efficiently and transparently. These programs assist the Commission in encouraging voter registration, enhancing women’s participation, and improving campaign financing and election monitoring.

USAID supports the efforts of members of parliament to enact anticorruption laws and foster legislative advocacy. USAID also contributes to parliamentarians’ efforts to improve the budget-making and oversight functions of the legislature and to increase the capacity of key reform-oriented committees. Additionally, USAID is working with the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption, the Higher Tender Board, the Central Organization for Control and Audit, and the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate to strengthen the ability of these organizations to combat corruption.

USAID supports tribal conflict mitigation programs. Activities include promoting the peaceful resolution of conflict through dialogue, outreach, and anti-violence youth campaigns. USAID also assists tribal leaders in their efforts to resolve longstanding conflicts that delay much-needed democratic, economic, and educational reforms.

Investing In People: Health
To create lasting changes in health services in remote governorates, USAID renovates health clinics and housing for health providers; provides basic medical equipment to health facilities; trains midwives and doctors to improve emergency obstetric and pre- and postnatal care; and improves counseling services and community health education. Over the past year, more than 1,112 staff members of health facilities were trained in family planning and maternal and child health services, including counseling and health education. Through mobile health teams and renovated facilities, USAID brought health care services to more than 97,886 people in its target governorates. USAID supports the national Health Information System, which allows the Ministry of Public Health and Population and governorate health offices to improve their collection and utilization of health statistics for better resource management. USAID also has piloted new guidelines for increased routine immunization coverage. In addition, USAID has participated in several rounds of national polio campaigns, reaching places where children had never been vaccinated.

Investing In People: Education
Yemen’s education indicators are among the lowest in the Middle East. The primary school attendance rate is only 45 percent for girls, with only 15 percent of girls going on to secondary school. To support Yemen’s efforts to strengthen its basic education system, USAID has developed new programs to improve education, especially for women and girls. In 2008, these programs trained 761 teachers in teaching Arabic, science, and mathematics. The programs also provided training to 154 teacher trainers, 49 inspectors, 122 headmasters, 1,671 community participation and literacy specialists, and 309 parent council members. An estimated 7,000 students have benefited from USAID-sponsored life skills classes, and over 6,000 women have participated in literacy classes. All 77 project schools have benefited from supplementary reading materials.

Economic Growth: Creating Economic Opportunity
In the remote areas where USAID works, most people are employed in agriculture and herding, and poverty levels are high. In 2007, USAID signed an agreement with Yemen’s Ministry of Agriculture to assist in improving the marketing and trade capacity of farming associations and cooperatives, with a focus on increasing exports of agricultural goods and, in turn, raising the income of agricultural communities.

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