Friends of Yemen will discuss support for Sanaa during Abu Dhabi meeting

By Faisal Darem in Yemen
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-03-26

[KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images] PM Ali Mohammed Mujawar says Yemen faces real challenges that include the rise of poverty and unemployment.

A group of donor countries and organisations supporting Yemen will examine its security and development concerns during a conference in Abu Dhabi on March 29-30.

Muhammad al-Hawri, undersecretary of Yemeni ministry of planning and international co-operation, told Al-Shorfa that "the Abu Dhabi meeting will establish what is known as the 'Friends of Yemen' group, which will have its own structure."

"This will be followed by establishing a fund to support Yemen in confronting its current challenges on different fronts," he said. "The meeting is a technical gathering aimed at generating recommendations for the next conference, which will be held later in Berlin where the Friends of Yemen will be announced."

He added that that the meeting in Abu Dhabi will discuss development challenges and state reform within the financial and administrative reform programme that Yemen launched in 1995.

Al-Hawri said the meeting will assess in detail what Yemen needs in order to implement the fourth development plan 2011-2015. The meeting will be dominated by the technical discussions about the difficulties that development projects face. A number of recommendations will be issued to accelerate the flow of funds and prepare the groundwork for additional funding.

Abd al-Hafiz Naji Al-Sammah, the secretary of the cabinet and the official in charge of implementing the government's list of 10 priorities, told Al-Shorfa that the conference of Yemen's friends will translate the outcomes of the previous meetings in London and Riyadh into action. He said the London and Riyadh meetings stressed the importance of supporting the security, stability and the unity of Yemen in addition to providing aid to the government so that it overcomes economic and security difficulties.

Al-Sammah said the Abu Dhabi meeting will discuss the formation of a fund with contributions from several states, international donor organisations and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The meeting will also examine the outcomes of the London meeting where the international community reiterated support for Yemen in fighting terrorism, safeguarding its security and stability, and pushing economic and development programmes forward.

Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar said in a statement published by the official Saba news agency that the Abu Dhabi meeting will be based on a prepared summary and will lay out what the international community has to do to meet its commitments to provide support for Yemen.

Mujawar said that Yemen was facing real challenges that include the rise of poverty and unemployment. He added that Yemen struggles with limited resources to meet these growing needs, as the levels of poverty are very high and youth in many areas are unemployed. These are the two main factors that nurture the activities of radical and terrorist elements.

The prime minister said that the outcomes from the London and Riyadh meetings of Yemen's development partners showed that the international community is concerned about supporting Yemen and enhancing its capabilities to overcome security and terrorist challenges.

This will embody the stand taken by the international community towards Yemen, its security, stability and unity, he said.

Bookmarking

Please comment on this article so that we can improve the experience of viewing this website.