Yemen’s poverty gap continues to widen [Archives:2008/1128/Local News]

Almigdad Dahesh Mojalli
SANA'A, Feb. 8 ) A December 2007 report by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program, or UNDP, concluded that attempts to reduce poverty in Yemen are progressing more slowly than expected.

According to the report, poverty in Yemen decreased between 2005 and 2006, with urban districts benefiting the most from these poverty reduction attempts more than rural districts.

Nevertheless, seven million people still live below the poverty line, with the report indicating that this number will remain constant for at least the next seven years due to Yemen's rapidly growing population.

The report surveyed family budgets between April 2005 and March 2006. The poverty ratio, meaning the percentage of the population living below the poverty line, decreased in rural areas from 42.4 percent in 1998 to 40.1 percent in 2006, while the poverty ratio decreased in urban districts from 32.2 percent to 20.7 percent during the same time period.

This general decrease in poverty was attributed to the connection between urban areas and Yemen's development of the petroleum industry. According to the Yemeni government, the nation's economy mainly depends upon oil production, which constitutes 85 percent of its total exports and 33 percent of gross domestic product. The other 15 percent of Yemen's exports consist of fish, raisins, fruits and vegetables.

“The poor don't benefit from the progress that comes from oil, especially those in rural areas, where oil doesn't contribute to creating jobs because it's an industrial sector requiring professionals usually brought in from abroad,” the report indicated.

Outgoing UNDP representative Flavia Pansieri noted that the development process doesn't reach rural areas in the same way it reaches urban ones, which is problematic because 75 percent of Yemen's population lives in rural areas.

For this reason, Pansieri added, “Rural districts must be given priority in offering them services and enabling residents to seize opportunities in order to extricate themselves from the cycle of poverty.”

Information within the report indicated that it will be difficult for Yemen to achieve the Millennium Development Goal related to halving its poverty ratio by 2015. It further indicated that the poverty ratio has increased 10 to 15 percent in 12 governorates in Yemen's northern middle, western middle and eastern districts.

The Social Patronage Fund, the Yemeni government's anti-poverty arm, recently announced that just over 1.44 million individuals benefited from the fund during 2007, receiving more than YR 18.77 billion annually.

The fund's executive manager Qasem Ahmed Khalil explained that distribution occurs through 187 field committees at the district level, affirming that the money is given to recipients via hand-to-hand contact. These field committees are made up of fund employees who go to villages to determine who needs financial aid the most.

However, Ismail Al-Ghabri, whose daughter is one of the beneficiaries, noted that while his daughter should receive YR 3,000 every three months, in reality, she only receives YR 2,500. “The cashier only gives my daughter YR 2,500, taking off YR 500 for nothing,” Al-Ghabri said.
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