SANAA, 15 November (IRIN) - Analysts have said the Yemeni government must be serious in implementing reforms if it is to benefit from the aid pledges that are being made at an important donor conference being held in London on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Yemen is now at a crossroads and needs to help itself by achieving real reforms and fighting corruption," said Abdul-Aziz al-Tareb, head of the Arab Group for Investment and Development. "Yemen is now facing a real challenge, especially as it has development money. It needs to prove its seriousness in achieving development, fighting corruption and improving its infrastructure and economy."

The donor conference is being held specifically to raise funds to alleviate poverty in Yemen, one of the least developed countries in the world.

Already, the United Kingdom has said that it will give about US $220 million in new aid to Yemen over the next four years. A statement issued on Wednesday by the British Department for International Development (DFID) said that it was hoped this pledge would strongly encourage Arab countries attending the conference to increase their support for Yemen.

According to DFID, this additional aid will be spent on providing better basic services, including education for girls, maternal healthcare, job creation and on helping to make the government more accountable to its people.

"Eight million people in Yemen live on less than $2 a day, making it the poorest country in the Arab world. With high illiteracy rates, nearly 5 percent of women likely to die due to problems related to childbirth, and a rapidly rising population, Yemen is facing some serious development challenges," said Gareth Thomas, the UK Minister of International Development, who visited Yemen last week.

However, local analysts have said that despite new aid, Yemen could enter a new phase of instability if the government did not implement reforms to counter a deteriorating economy and higher rates of poverty and unemployment.

Abdul-Hai Qasim, an economist and political analyst, said the problem did not lie in aid, but in the way aid was being used. "Donor countries don't trust Yemen's ability to use such aid in development projects, especially as the government hasn't fulfilled its promises to fight against corruption and achieve real [judiciary and economic] reforms," he said.

Dr Abdullah al-Faqih, a professor of political science at Sana'a University, said that Yemen has been losing between US $600-700 million every year because of corruption, and that 50 percent of development projects were affected as a result.

"Yemen's weak governance has led to corruption, deterred investment and is also responsible for the lack of transparency, which has had a bad effect on development," al-Faqih said.

Yemen's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Abdul-Karim al-Arahabi, said that his country needed US $48 billion to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

Yemeni government sources said that Yemen would ask donors at the conference for US $10 billion in aid over a five-year period to bring it out of poverty and make it eligible for full membership of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which Yemen is keen to join.

Senior ministers from GCC member countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates – are also attending the meeting.

However, sources within the donor community said that the conference would more likely raise $5 billion. And without a massive injection of aid, Qasim said Yemen has no chance of integrating its economy with those of GCC countries.

"Yemen would continue to be plagued by grinding poverty and higher rates of illiteracy and unemployment. Then Yemen would witness instability, which will affect the security of GCC countries," Qasim said.

Forty-three percent of Yemen's 20 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. With its population increasing by 3 percent a year, it is expected to double to 40 million by 2030, putting more pressure on limited resources.

On average, each Yemeni receives $12 in foreign assistance every year. This compares to $33 for those living in equally poor parts of Africa and Asia.

maj/ar/ed

IRIN news

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit                                                                                  Permalink