الموقع العربي

Considered the poorest country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, seven years of conflict have left Yemen’s economy with a myriad of challenges. The civil war has caused widespread damage to vital economic infrastructure, severely limited food and fuel imports, accelerated inflation and halted Yemen’s exports. 

The collapse of the Yemeni economy, combined with the impact of the war on the rapidly growing population, is severe. Enabling vital central economic institutions, such as the Central Bank of Yemen or the Ministry of Finance, to function effectively and coherently, represents a precondition for economic recovery and macro-economic stability. Engaging these institutions in a targeted capacity building exercise is crucial to rebuild a viable and resilient economy.

The need for economic reconstruction requires developing a vibrant private sector. Apart from income-generation and job creation, the private sector provides the delivery of important goods and services. This is of critical importance to improved food security and nutrition in Yemen. Enabling the private sector to become more resilient can manifest in communities becoming better able to deal with risks and shocks by increasing economic self-reliance. 

• First Steering Committee Meeting, January 2022 Read the Press Release
• Report: Update on the economic dimensions of the conflict in Yemen, October 2021
• Launch of consultations with public institutions, 5 August 2021

The meeting brought together 16 institutions  and presented the projects, objectives and key steps to representatives of the Yemeni government and public institutions. It also clarified the mechanisms and timeframe for technical consultations with public institutions in view of conducting a needs assessment to identify the most urgent policy priorities, training needs and opportunities for peer leaning with OECD and MENA countries. 

The specific objectives of the project are to:

• Enable key central level economic institutions to lead economic recovery and create the conditions for private sector development.
• Strengthen capacity for economic data collection and analysis
• Promote resilience and private sector development, focusing on job creation and employment of the youth, women and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
• Facilitate donor coordination and policy coherence in the economic sector 

By implementing its objectives, the project intends to reach four main results:

• Result 1: Improved capacities of Yemen’s central economic institutions
• Result 2: Strengthened capacity for economic data collection and analysis
• Result 3: Support to enhance public advocaty and managerial skill by private sector institutions
• Result 4: Improved donor coordination in Yemen

‌This report provides an update to a previous 2020 publication on the economic dimensions of the conflict in Yemen commissioned by the European Union (EU), UNDP and UNOCHA.  Structured into four sections, the report builds on interviews with interlocutors representing different constituencies within Yemen and the international community, as well as the review of relevant documents. 

• Economic dimensions of the conflict in Yemen, October 2021 update
• Economic dimensions of the conflict in Yemen, October 2020 report

For further information, please contact:

Mohammed Baraka, Team Leader 
mohammed.baraka@oecd.org

Salma Labyad, Junior Policy Analyst
salma.labyad@oecd.org

Wendy Stokle, Communications Lead
wendy.stokle@oecd.org