U.S. Congress commends Yemen’s reform and democratization efforts [Archives:2005/809/Local News]

For the Yemen Times
In a resolution passed in the U.S. House of Representatives of January 2, 2005, the U.S. Congress commended the government of Yemen for its political and economic liberalization efforts. Yemen was recognized along with the governments of Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman in hope that their efforts will serve as a model for other Arab countries. A press release on 18 January by the U.S. embassy in Yemen has said,

Yemen was specifically cited for its accomplishment in the following areas:

The Republic of Yemen, in economic terms is the least of development country on the Arabian Peninsula and largely lacking natural resources, is making an important effort to support political, educational, and economic reform.

In January 2004, in a speech to the Sana'a Inter-Governmental Regional conference, His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen, stated “Democracy is the choice of the modern age for all peoples of the world It is the way to achieve security, stability, development and better future for our countries Human rights are tightly connected to democracy and the state of law and order”.

In April 2003, elections described as “mostly free and fair” were held for Yemen's House of Representatives.

President Saleh has aggressively recruited women into most areas of the government and supports the inclusion of women in the public sphere, with women having been elected to parliament positions and to the cabinet.

The government of Yemen has continued a long-term program of judicial reform, with Yemen's Minister of Justice and other Jurists participating actively in the Arab Judicial Reform project of the Middle East partnership Initiative. The government of Yemen is working with the World Bank on the Basic Education Development Project to help improve the quality of education and ensure universal access to education, and

In February 2004, the Government of Yemen and the United States signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
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