The economics project in the electoral programs of Yemeni political parties
These programs were implemented in several steps in cooperation with the Center for International Private Enterprise of the Washington Chamber of Commerce (CIPE) in the period October 2008 – July 2009 with the aim of enhancing the participation of the private sector in the decision-making process and ensuring the inclusion of the national agenda on reforms and economic freedoms in the new constitution of Yemen.
Project activities
Holding educational sessions for the senior leadership of the six parties participating in the project represented in Parliament on the nature of the economic challenges facing Yemen and modern economic policies regarding the challenges, where meetings and dialogues were held with the senior leadership of the political parties represented in the House of Representatives in the presence of Professor Dr. Abdul Hamid Awad, Minister of Planning. The former Moroccan and member of the leadership of the Moroccan Independence Party, who presented his expertise and distinguished experience before the leaders of the General People’s Congress at the headquarters of the Permanent Committee, and also before the leaders of the Joint Meeting Parties at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Yemeni Islah Party. These meetings were also attended by Mrs. Dania Greenfield, Middle East Programs Officer at the Projects Center. International Affairs, Mr. Ali Ayadi, Yemen Program Officer at the Center for International Projects, and Mr. Hafez Al-Bakari, Head of the Yemen Polling Center.
This step was implemented by holding a training seminar at the Taj Sheba Hotel in Sana’a entitled (Strengthening the Economy in Party Programs). The training was conducted by Professor Ghareeb Al-Rantawi, head of the Al-Quds Center in Jordan, and Professor Dr. Wadih Al-azazi from Sana’a University. The training manual of the Center for International Projects was used, and the seminar was attended by Ms. Dania Green.
The project also included preparing a poll on the opinion of the private sector towards the parties and their programs. For this purpose, in October 2008, an agreement was signed to conduct an opinion poll between PDF, represented by Mr. Ali Saif Hassan, CEO, and the Yemen Polling Center, represented by its president, Mr. Hafez Al-Bokari. At the beginning of February 2009, the results of a private sector opinion poll on parties and elections were announced, which reviewed the most important economic problems facing Yemen and the private sector’s assessment of the laws, parties and their programs in the private sector’s awareness.
Round Table Conference to Determine Economic Priorities
This important conference was held within the framework of the “Economy in Party Programs” project and sponsored during the period 13-15 December 2009 at the Sheba Hotel in Sana’a, and was moderated by Professor Dr. Abdel Hamid Awad, the former Moroccan Minister of Planning. The conference emphasized these and other priorities of the political and economic parties, and considered that achieving them requires resolving the confrontation with the challenges of security and corruption, as they are fundamental obstacles to any development or political achievements in Yemen, as well as emphasizing the importance of political parties giving sufficient importance to economic and development issues in their political and electoral programs and their media discourse. Private sector organizations and civil society organizations active in the field of development should give great importance to economic media and work to mobilize national public opinion supportive of economic development issues in particular.
The project also aims to provide optional consulting services to parties, in addition to future directions for holding training courses for party media professionals and independents specializing in economic fields, as well as holding second rounds of meetings with senior party leaders.
A project to prepare the Political Development Forum standards for measuring and evaluating the state of corruption
This project is one of the important projects implemented by PDF, with funding from the National Democratic Institute and the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption. In this project, the following was achieved:
First: Preparing the Political Development Forum standards document to measure and evaluate the state of corruption by signing contracts and agreements with a team of specialized experts in PDF who worked to complete this important document through meetings and dialogue sessions that extended for several months, and its final draft was completed on April 1, 2009 by an advisory committee headed by Dr. Abdul Karim Qasim Al-Siyaghi and membership of Dr. Mohamed Mughram, Dr. Abdul Hakim Al-Sharjabi, and Dr. Sinan Al-Marhadhi, and under the supervision of the General Coordinator, Mr. Ali Saif Hassan, CEO of PDF.
The main objective of this document is to present an integrated system of national standards for measuring and evaluating the state of corruption in Yemen to constitute a reference and guide for the work of non-governmental institutions and independent media in the field of monitoring and combating corruption. The team assigned to prepare this document followed a comprehensive analysis approach to study and analyze the content of the definitions and standards of corruption circulated regionally and internationally, with the aim of identifying the elements that make up those definitions and standards to form the broad outlines in arriving at the desired system.
Second: An expanded discussion panel was held entitled (The Political Development Forum’s Draft Standards for Measuring and Evaluating the State of Corruption) in the Sheba Hotel hall on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, during which the document preparation team presented it to the attendees, as well as reviewing all the difficulties they faced and how to overcome them, and listening to the interventions and discussions. The episode was distinguished by the presence and interest of the leaders of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Commission, representatives of the National Democratic Institute, foreign experts, party and political leaders, media figures, and civil society organizations.
Beirut consultative meeting
A workshop was held in Beirut during this period from 26 to 29 March 2017 for Yemeni experts in the field of trade and finance under the title “How to improve economic efficiency and protect the humanitarian situation from deterioration” in light of the deteriorating living conditions in Yemen as a result of the absence of the role of the Central Bank of Yemen in addition to a number of economic challenges.
Berlin consultative meeting 1
During this period, from 4 to 6 October 2017, a workshop was held in Berlin for Yemeni experts in the field of banking and finance in order to explore the available options and urgent steps to strengthen the role of the Central Bank of Yemen in particular and develop the financial sector in Yemen in general. This is the second meeting facilitated by the German Berghof Foundation, with the aim of improving economic and financial efficiency and protecting the humanitarian situation in Yemen from deteriorating in light of the current living conditions as a result of the absence of the role of the Central Bank of Yemen, in addition to a number of other economic challenges.
Consultative meeting, Berlin 2
A meeting was held in the German capital, Berlin, in mid-December 2019 under the title: Contributions of the Yemeni and regional private sector to improving the living conditions and well-being of Yemeni citizens. The meeting aimed to provide a space for representatives of important Yemeni and regional businessmen to discuss the current situation of the private sector, and to discuss options to contribute to alleviating the current suffering and achieving economic stability in Yemen.
The Local governance strengthening project contributed to strengthening the role of the private sector as follows
The project was able to create effective areas of cooperation between the private sector and local initiatives that included local authorities and local communities. For example, the project stimulated the private sector to intervene as an element to support stability in the governorates in which the project operates by collecting additional sources of funding for projects that are pending or suspended as a result of community conflicts or as a result of a lack of funding between the years 2019 to 2022. An example of these contributions is the generous financial support provided by the private sector in Dhamar Governorate to reopen new departments within the Faculty of Medicine, or those in which the private sector contributed to restore water to remote villages and open health centers. The project works on such coordination that contributes to strengthening the various roles of the most important players in the local community
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