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Press Release
1 August 2007
Yemen aid boost
£7.5 million more aid and development partnership announced
On his first overseas visit as International Development Minister, Shahid
Malik, today signed a new ten-year Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA)
with the Government of Yemen, strengthening the UK’s commitment to fighting
poverty as UK support to the country is set to grow to £50 million a year by
2010.
Mr Malik also announced a boost in funding of £7.5 million to the Social Development Fund, a Yemen-based organisation that plays a key role in tackling poverty by providing direct support to communities to improve access to water and build more schools and roads.
During his visit Mr Malik met with President Saleh and Prime Minister Mujawar. The UK is playing a leading role in encouraging more long-term international support for Yemen and the visit is intended to build on the constructive relationship between the two countries.
Shahid Malik said:
"With more than 2 million people living on less than $1 a day, high levels of adult and child illiteracy and growing water scarcity, Yemen faces some very severe challenges, many of which I have seen first hand this week.
"Yemen has historically never been given much aid, but the UK, with this increase in funding and the new development partnership arrangement, is committed to long-term support to help Yemen tackle its poverty and build a sustainable and prosperous future. The UK is also giving support to the Government of Yemen’s ambitious reform agenda that is essential to help bring about long-term changes to Yemen."
Yemen Deputy Prime Minister Al-Arhabi said:
"The signing of the DPA during the visit signifies the growing cooperation and partnership between Yemen and the UK. The DPA underlines the long-term commitments by both governments to work towards addressing the key challenges of poverty alleviation and reforms in Yemen."
The UK’s aid budget is set to rise, by more than 400% over the next four years, to £50 million a year. It will expand the existing focus on education, especially for girls, help improve job opportunities to tackle the high unemployment rate and support the Government in important areas such as financial management, policing and justice.
DFID is also exploring new areas of support, including water management, which is critical to Yemen’s future. As a package, the increasing UK support will help Yemen tackle the daunting set of interrelated challenges it faces.
The ten-year Development Partnership Arrangement - only the seventh DPA the UK has signed internationally, underlining the importance the UK places on its relationship with Yemen - sets out individual and shared commitments between Yemen and the UK. It includes a focus on eradicating poverty, meeting the Millennium Development Goals, advancing the National Reform Agenda and further enhancing respect for human rights. The UK will take on new commitments, including improving the long-term predictability of aid.
Promoting a prosperous and stable Yemen is a UK Government objective in which
DFID plays a key role along with the
FCO and
MoD.
Key facts
Challenges
- Yemen has a population of 21 million, growing at 3.3% a year, the sixth fastest in the world;
- Income (GNI) per person is $600 a year, the lowest in the region;
- Two million people live on less than $1 a day and 10 million on less than $2 a day;
- Oil provides 75% of the country’s income, but reserves are expected to run dry before 2020;
- Not enough aid gets to Yemen. On average each Yemeni has received $12 of foreign assistance every year compared to $33 for those living in equally poor parts of Africa and Asia;
- 45% of all school-aged children (6 – 14 years) do not go to school, i.e. some 2.4 million children, of which nearly two-thirds are girls;
- Literacy rates are low; half of all women are illiterate, and nearly a third of men.
Progress and DFID support
- Progress has been made in the fight against poverty – with urban poverty declining by more than 10% over the past seven years.
- Life expectancy has increased from 41 years in 1970 to 62 years in 2005.
- School enrolment rates have risen dramatically; during the 1970s it was estimated that only 25,000 children went to school. Primary age attendance is currently 77%.
- Progress on Yemen’s National Reform Agenda over the last 18 months includes Yemen joining the ‘Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’, a new Supreme National Anti-Corruption Authority starting work and a new international best practice Public Procurement Law being passed this month. These are all important steps to increase transparency and accountability in Yemen and fight against corruption.
DFID support will rise by 400%, from £12 million this year to £50 million by 2010/11. This includes:
- £15.9 million on supporting the Ministry of Education improve access to education, especially for girls;
- £19.8 million for the Social Fund for Development;
- £1.0 million of support to the justice system and police, working with the Ministries of Justice and Interior;
- £1.1 million to help improve management of public finances and fight corruption, working with the Ministry of Finance.
Notes for editors
1. The two-day visit to Yemen by Shahid Malik is the first overseas visit by the Minister, who was appointed to DFID in June this year.
2. The new Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA) signed during the Minister’s visit is only DFID’s seventh. The DPA sets out individual and joint commitments by the UK and partner governments in the effort to eradicate poverty. DFID has signed DPAs with other countries including Vietnam, Zambia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Pakistan.
3. Mr Malik, who is the first Muslim Minister in the UK Government, has responsibility for DFID’s work in South, Central and East Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America and leads on Yemen. Mr Malik, appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, will also support ministerial colleagues on DFID’s work in India, Afghanistan, the Middle East (for example, aid for Palestinians), and conflict resolution issues. He will also lead on the department’s work with faith groups and unions; he will manage DFID’s funding partnerships with the top UK aid agencies such as Oxfam, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, WWF and VSO; and he will help promote development awareness through the Development Awareness Fund grants.
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