Deputy Planning Minister Mutahar Al-Abbasi stated on Sunday that Yemen’s Ministry of Planning has been facing challenges which have prevented it from handling or processing all aid pledges.
He added that obstruction from local Yemeni governments had prevented the completion of various development projects. Al-Abbasi’s remarks came during a meeting with the anti-corruption committee, part of the NDC’s Good Governance Working Group.
Abdulqawi Omer, the Assistant Deputy Minister of Planning for International Cooperation, told the committee that there should exist a database to assist with coordination between governmental organizations and donors.
The same group’s justice and equality committee met with ministry officials and discussed the matter of evenly distributing development projects. The officials were urged to find solutions instead of complaining.
The meeting also focused on the spread of residential communities, which are perceived to affect the country’s ability to launch projects which reach sufficient numbers of citizens.
Furthermore, the committee with a focus on the roles of political parties and civil society organizations held a meeting with Ministry of Planning officials.
Also discussed were proposals concerned with improving the ministry’s ability to coordinate interactions between local and foreign organizations. At both meetings, it was suggested that there should be a mechanism for absorbing foreign aid in place.
Khaled Afif, Director General of the Cultural and Scientific Cooperation Department, said the ministry lacks development laws, bylaws and a useful organizational structure, and that these deficiencies have affected the ministry’s performance.
Separately, the justice and equality committee met with high-ranking officials from the Yemeni Economic Corporation (YECO). Corporation Deputy Director General Abdulhamid Al-Soufi provided an explanation of YECO’s responsibilities, and placed particular emphasis on its role in supplying wheat during a food shortage crisis in 2007.
During the meeting, YECO officials agreed to provide the committee with a report on needed reforms in the corporation.
