World Bank plans new aid strategy for Yemen from 2010-2013

The World Bank office in Yemen is organizing a number of consultative meetings which will run from March 11–18 of this year. These meetings aim to discuss the newly proposed Joint IDA-IFC Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for 2010-2013. Consultation attendees will include various members of civil society organizations, development partners, government officials, and representatives of the private sector, youth and media.

The consultative meetings are part of the World Bank’s goal to develop its country assistance strategy based on the participation and views of a wide range of public constituencies, while drawing on lessons from previous CASs.  The meetings will be held in the governorates of Sana’a and Aden, and much of the time will be devoted to hearing the participants’ views and their recommendations. “The overall objective of the World Bank program proposed in the CAS is to facilitate Yemen’s further progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, through the continued implementation of the Third Socio-economic Development Plan for Poverty Reduction (DPPR),” commented Benson Ateng, World Bank Country Manager for Yemen. “This will require a stronger collaboration between government and other stakeholders, including the private sector to facilitate the flow of resources and investments for the benefit of all Yemenis,” he added.

In an uncertain global and regional environment, Yemen has scarce resources to manage its daunting development challenges; including poverty reduction and improving the living conditions for most of the 22 million Yemenis. Over the last few decades, Yemen’s economy has relied on oil. Yemen’s social challenges are exacerbated by a fast-paced demographic growth, with nearly 50 percent of the population aged 15 or less. Yemeni women face particularly difficult challenges, including the lack of effective participation in the labor market and insufficient access to health services among others.

In response to the country’s pressing development priorities, the Government of Yemen has set out a clear and ambitious vision for the country’s development until 2025. The Yemeni “Strategic Vision 2025” has been translated into a series of successive national plans, which have been discussed with Parliament, stakeholders, and shared with international partners.  In parallel, the Government is taking serious steps to improve governance and fight corruption.

Over the past few years, the World Bank Group’s engagement has also had a significant impact beyond financing through effective dialogue with the authorities as well as with non-governmental stakeholders and partners.  The Bank played a major convening role in donor coordination, in particular through the co-chairing of the Consultative Group (CG) meeting and the design of multi-donor programs.

A new framework will be developed within the Country Assistance Strategy to facilitate the monitoring of outcomes regarding poverty, economic, and human development. This is expected to be complemented by data gathering at the project level to monitor progress for both IDA and IFC-financed projects. “IFC advisory programs, especially at the monitoring and evaluation levels, will contribute to capacity building of government institutions and will also impact on the socioeconomic outcomes of the new CAS objectives”, said Frank Sader, IFC Chief Strategist. 

The new CAS is being prepared within the broader context of the World Bank’s strategic focus on the Arab World. Yemen is one of the few Low Income Countries in the Arab World, and has to address a broad range of issues reflected and identified in the broader Arab World Initiative. These issues include supporting economic reform and further integration with the global economy, helping to enhance education quality to improve skills in the labor force, supporting social integration through work in areas such as gender, health, and social safety nets and finally supporting the management of water resources.

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