A donor conference on Yemen, sponsored by Saudi Arabia, which starts in Riyadh tomorrow, is expected to look into the country’s requirements.
The challenges facing the new government are enormous. The Yemeni administration needs to engage with its people and neighbouring countries to chart a short-term and long-term programme to address the situation.
While Yemen can count on its wealthy neighbours for financial support, the new government also needs to demonstrate that it is in control of the state — Al Qaida poses the most serious threat to Yemen and must be tackled effectively.
Yemen needs more than the $11 billion in aid — as suggested by its government — to reform its economy. The country is in dire straits, if one considers the facts on the ground.
Over 10 million Yemenis, or 40 per cent of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. Some 750,000 children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition, which is double the number at the beginning of the crisis in 2011.
Worse, about 500,000 children are at risk of dying this year if adequate support is not provided. Over 30 per cent of the population faces hunger and 75 per cent do not have access to clean drinking water, causing a severe increase in water-borne diseases.
On top of this, unemployment now exceeds 50 per cent among the youth. Some three million children are denied access to education. There is space for only 70 per cent of school-age children of both genders, even less for girls. Poverty is rampant; close to 50 per cent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
The government must show its willingness to serve the people by establishing law and order and bringing in transparency and accountability within the administration. A donor conference is a good start, but Yemen needs to move fast to control the situation.
Public anger and frustration could give way to anarchy.
