World Bank holds consultation meeting with civil NGOs

The World Bank Manager in Yemen, Benson Ateng, emphasized that the World Bank is seeking to improve their relations with civil society organizations in Yemen. The Bank supported a recent consultation chaired by the government for the preparation and implementation of organizations’ projects, as well as the bank’s response to complaints from the local communities, NGOs and the private sector.

Ateng acknowledged the importance of the meeting, designed to listen to the proposals of the NGOs, discuss their relations with the World Bank, and outline their support of the government’s consultation with these organizations and the Bank’s mechanism for responding to the complaints and fears voiced by the NGOs in Yemen.

He reiterated that the Bank seeks to gather the views of participants on how to improve their relationships. Otng emphasized that the Bank’s participation with the NGOs in Yemen is not new. He added that this recent workshop is part of the consultation process with the Sana’a, Taiz, Aden and Mukala civil society organizations. This consultation process will continue throughout March and April. The workshop’s outcome will be submitted to the World Bank for review and implementation.

The Deputy Minister of the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, Saleh Abdullah, said that the government has no intention to impose any restrictions on civil society organizations. Rather, he continued, there is a desire to work with them as organizations.

The amendments tabled during parliament regarding the organizations’ law number 1 consisted of 12 paragraphs seeking the success of the organizations, not the restriction of those organizations and NGOs. The legislation strives to bring about discipline in the rhythm of NGOs’ work.

He noted that most of these amendments are related to financial matters, to tighten the establishment procedures, control current random donations in order to achieve the public benefits and remove areas of overlap within the NGOs’ tasks.

Saleh praised the World Bank’s efforts to support development in Yemen. He called on any NGOs still focusing on civil activities to shift to development and training.

The study’s objectives are as follows:

1. To produce an objective assessment of the perceptions of civil society in Yemen on (1) World Bank - civil society relations, Bank support to Government-led consultations for project preparation and implementation and Bank’s response to civil society concerns and complaints.

 2. To develop mechanisms and systems for consideration by Bank Management.

3. To further broaden and deepen interactions between the Bank and civil society.

4. To further support Government-led consultation processes during the preparation and implementation of Bank-supported projects.

5. To provide proactive and time-bound responses to complaints from communities, civil society and the private sector.

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