9th February 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
PROGRESS WILL BE PERSONAL
Every Yemeni and their international friends know that the real test of Yemen’s political transition process will be whether it improves the lives of most Yemenis. Progress won’t happen overnight: significant structural reforms are needed and corruption needs to be tackled before there are real improvements.
Life in Yemen is tough: in 2005, 18% of people lived on less than $1.25 a day – if it’s around the same now (it’s probably worse), that’s about 5 million people. Most men have just over 6 years or less of formal education and most women have just over 2 years of schooling or less.
Over 10 million people have no access to clean drinking water and over 12 million have no proper sanitation. The situation is made even worse by Yemen’s various conflicts, which have forced over 500,000 people to leave their homes. The weak economy means many people can’t find jobs.
In the face of these challenges, I am proud that the UK, through our Department for International Development, is at the forefront of efforts to improve the lives of Yemen’s people.
We are spending £196 million (over $320 million) in Yemen over three years. We work closely with Yemen’s other international partners to encourage them to invest more money in Yemen’s future and to invest wisely. More important than the amount of money we spend though, are the results we achieve.
As a direct result of UK funding 33,000 additional children were enrolled in school from 2011 to 2013. More than 680,000 women and children were screened for, and given help to prevent, malnutrition from September 2012 to December 2013. 60,000 people received cash payments to help them survive (including payment for public works) in 2013. Over 96,000 people were provided with access to clean drinking water in 2013. In 2012, over 4,500 jobs were created indirectly by UK support. Our projects are delivered in governorates across Yemen.
A list of numbers like that is certainly impressive, but the value of our work really came home to me recently when I met people whose lives had been transformed by UK-funded projects delivered by the Social Fund for Development (SFD). In Bait Mazuor, in Sana’a Governorate, I met villagers who told me that since SFD had built a dam, fewer children fell ill because of drinking dirty water, and farmers had been able to switch from subsistence farming to cash crops such as coffee, potatoes and maize.
In Da’oah, I heard that the road SFD is building would connect the village to economic opportunities and had already cut the journey time to the nearest clinic from six hours to three. In Deer Qumal in Hodeidah Governorate, I saw how an SFD water tower piped water directly to households in the village and meant that the village girls were now able to attend school instead of fetching water.
SFD delivers projects like these all across the country, making tangible improvements to people’s lives. These projects work because they are identified by the villagers themselves, who help to build them; and because of the expertise, dedication and commitment of the SFD staff. It is this commitment by Yemenis to improve their lives, and the lives of their fellow citizens, that gives me real hope for the future.
The British government will continue to help improve the lives of Yemen’s people in every way we can. Our ultimate ambition is to work ourselves out of a job. In other words, we will continue helping Yemen to build a secure and prosperous future in which it no longer needs aid and development assistance from other countries. That day is a long way away: but it will come for Yemen’s children, if their parents make the right choices today.
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Thanks for your reply, Your Excellency
Every wise person in Yemen say the same thing “we should look to our government for support and assistance”. My masters research will be focused on “unacceptable dependance on external aid and how foreign political aid to our governments–in some cases can be called meddling– is just worsening the situation in my country. According to my experience as a journalist and researcher, Yemen has large resources; Yemen continues to rush to donors and other countries though. It is a real problem. My first point was that both political and economic aid from others should be directly aimed at helping Yemen stand on its feet not to stay dependant. My new point is that, I commented on your post here because the people took to the streets to demand reforms and a new government in 2011 but other countries (the US and the EU mainly through the GCC) interferred through the GCC power-transition deal (the Gulf Initiative). Most of the public in Yemen are not educated. Other countries deceived the people. Anyway, I sometimes say in myself, the West’s role during the Arab Spring was unevitable. ((((But))))) the West’s role or effort (I mean through the GCC unfair initiative) was not helpful and reasonable. Instead of helping the peope, the West helped the political factions. I know politicians lead people and countries but in our case, this is not true, for one clear reason: our politicians are obvious tribesmen (good men in their appearances but stupid tribesmen in their minds), military idiots who are in reality tribesmen and thieves. You trusted bad guys just because they put on the uniform of democracy and politics. Maybe for other reasons. Now, the Arab Spring has become a hell. Yemen is a good example. The irony is that the government, Arab countries and the West continue the talk about Yemen success referring to the conclusion of the dialog conference. Wow, daily targeted killings, raids on security and military instalations and checkpoints, wars of armed and terrorist militias including what you consider has become a political group (the Houthi Rebels) and above that poverty, unemployment and hunger rates ((are all on the rise and have become shocking)). In Yemen, West-backed success makes a political sense but not a humane sense.
Thanks for your support anyway
Thanks for the UK efforts to reduce poverty in Yemen.
The UK Government is having an excellent targeting of implementers, such as SFD, who adopt methodology and good planning. This ensures utilization of the really poor people. The SFD is a school educating development methodologies on ground. Your excellency is new to Yemen, so you cannot imagine how effective SFD is in this country. You cannot find a district without an SFD established project. I commend your work with this largely capable institution.
Great blog! Just off to talk to the DFID team about future plans. Hope to come and see progress for myself soon.
What an irony that some friends of Yemen talk about efforts to help improve the situation in this country while they appear to have decided to ignore the fact which says: widespread corruption at public offices, acts of sabotage mostly targeting oil and gas facilities and then deepening economic woes and poverty rates, targeted killings and assassinations, sectarian conflicts, security concerns, economic deterioration and persistent power struggle coinciding with continued talk about the success of political teconciliation (((are all being systemic))). With all our problems being systemic means the government (political partners friends are supporting) must be directly blamed (not further backed) for involvement in destroying the conuntry and then the people should be supported to have a new government that can shoulder the responsibility of building not destroying.
With all challenges in Yemen being systemic means friends and donors should reconsider every effort to help people because the reality is that whatever you give or support the situation further worsens. The truly biggest problem in here lies in the incompetence of power-sharing government which seems to be determined to stay in office and seek external support despite its fatal failure.
The point: do you agree if I say our friends should understand that political partners have been and will continue to be addicted to destructive power struggle in order to help us first have a competent government before giving funds? you may say all support to the political process aims in the end to help people have a good government!! I completely disagree for a simple reason: the corrupt politicians and military and tribal idiots whom the people sought to overthrow in 2011 were reinstated by our friends under reconciliation.
Thanks for your support anyway
Enjoy your stay in Yemen
Several people have raised the risk of channelling funds through Government and stressed the need to support Yemeni people directly. This is very important. No UK funds are channelled through the government, all are managed by independent organisations whose objective is to help Yemen’s people. However we do also provide advice and assistance to the Government to reduce corruption, improve economic management and direct Yemen’s resources towards helping Yemen’s people. In the long run, Yemen’s people should look to their government for support and assistance, not foreign aid
Your Excellency,
The matter of the fact is that the money place for various help and support for the Yemeni peoples required a strong supervision by the UK government it self and not to be kept on the hand of a corrupt Yemeni government official, that way we can assure that the funds are well spend on projects for which it was contributed.
Kind regards
Bilal Hussein