• A quantitative and qualitative expansion of the foundations of technical education through the establishment and promotion of new educational and training establishments in the Republic’s governorates and the retraining of teaching staff
• Finalization of the legislation concerning technical education and vocational training
• Action in support of technical education and vocational training on behalf of women and various categories of persons with special needs so that they can be integrated into the educational process
• Enactment of a law on technical and vocational education
• Adoption by the Cabinet of a bill providing for a vocational training fund
• Capacity-building for 1,012 technical and vocational staff members in the following areas of specialization: agriculture, veterinary medicine, administration, computer science 3. Higher education and scientific research
• Completion of institution-building and the legislative framework for higher education and scientific research
• Provision of modern technology and establishment of a network of academic and research data
• Preliminary work on the establishment of a modern scientific research base and expansion of existing facilities
• Organization of a scheme to enable students to study abroad, focusing on rare fields of scientific specialization that cannot be studied at Yemeni universities
• Restructuring of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
• Drafting of a higher education bill
• Preparation of the final draft of the project to establish an agency for academic recognition and quality assurance
• Preliminary studies aimed at restructuring the universities
• Establishment of boards of trustees in some Yemeni governorates
In spite of these efforts, the educational situation in Yemen still presents major challenges.
For instance, the gross enrolment ratio is still low compared with the total number of children of school-going age. Moreover, the illiteracy ratio in Yemeni society is still one of the highest in the Arab world. The overall ratio is about 45.3 per cent and the ratio for females is 61.6 per cent.
Moreover, the proportion of children in the 6 to 14 age group attending basic education is 75 per cent. At the secondary education level, the enrolment ratio is about 40.5 per cent.
In this context, the State has not neglected extremely poor and low-income groups. In addition to action to promote education for girls and increase their enrolment ration, it has undertaken other important activities such as the following:
• Opening of five centres to provide courses in women’s skills for rural women
• Organization of five workshops to establish coordinating councils in support of education for girls
• Conduct of three field studies to examine expenditure on education for girls
• Capacity-building for establishments dealing with education for girls and promotion of social involvement at the local and central levels
(f) Public health
Yemen has endeavoured to improve the coverage of health care and to enhance the quality of health services by adopting various kinds of measures including legislative enactments aimed at developing the health sector:
• Approval by the Prime Minister of two bills on health insurance, the contribution scheme and social participation
• Provision of free family planning services and expansion of the number of centres
providing such services; a total of 4,087 centres have now been established in 90 per cent of health facilities
• Drafting of a mental health bill
• Adoption of Prime Minister’s Decision No. 41 of 2008 granting financial and administrative independence to a number of hospitals
• Oversight and monitoring of health services provided by the private sector
• Launching of a programme to develop the health-care system by extending the coverage of primary health-care services to 35 per cent of the population of the Republic
• Organization of a polio vaccination campaign on behalf of 1,300,000 children under 5 years of age
• Preparatory work on the establishment of cancer centres
During the past few years, a tangible improvement has been recorded in some health
indicators. For instance, there has been a rise in average life expectancy at birth to 62 years, which represents an increase of 15 years. There has also been a sharp increase in the number of health facilities: an increase from 688 to 895 (30 per cent) in health centres; an increase from 1,818 to 2,730 (45.1 per cent) in health units; and an increase from 241 to 460 (90 per cent) in mother and child centres. In spite of these developments, the supply of health-care services is still limited.
According to the available data, the rate of access to health services is 58 per cent for the population as a whole; 80 per cent of this total relates to urban areas and 20 per cent to rural areas; moreover, 40 per cent of the total have access to public-sector services and 60 per cent to private-sector services. The State’s plans and programmes are designed to broaden access to curative and
preventive health services. The third five-year plan (2006-2010) provides for an expansion of the coverage of basic health services to 67 per cent of the population by 2010. The Government has also adopted a population policy aimed at achieving socio-economic balance, on the one hand, and population growth, on the other. The population policy for the period 2001-2005 sets the following health targets: a lowering of the average infant mortality rate to 35 per 1,000 live births by 2015 and a lowering of the average child mortality rate for children under 5 years of age to about 45 per 1,000 live births by 2015. These targets are to be achieved by boosting curative and preventive health care, expanding and improving the quality of health-care services, and promoting universal access to integrated health care, especially in rural areas, with a view to achieving average coverage of at least 90 per cent of the population by 2025 and guaranteeing safe drinking water for a similar proportion of the population by the same date. Provision is also made for the prevention of
disability and for the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. In addition, the Government has taken steps to increase the availability of reproductive health services. By 2005, such services were provided in 1,273 public health facilities. The scope of the food programme was expanded through social participation in 16 governorates, and the food support programme for mothers, pregnant women and children was boosted in 47 health centres in target regions. However, the health sector still requires greater support and continuous cooperation if higher standards of health are to be achieved in all governorates of the Republic.
(g) Best practices in the area of economic, social and cultural rights
• Award of a young people’s prize, sponsored by the President of the Republic, for science, culture and literature
• Award of a book and literature prize, sponsored by Al-Afif Cultural Foundation
• Award of a culture and creativity prize, sponsored by the private sector
• Allocation of more than 11.5 million square metres of land to develop housing projects for young people and low-income groups in nine governorates
• Opening of Al-Amal microcredit bank to reduce unemployment and create job opportunities
• Hiring of 19,000 jobseekers through employment agencies and employers to work in private-sector establishments
• Reform and development of the legislation governing the water and environmental sector and improvement of water resources management
• Achievement of an annual increase in basic wages of 138.5 billion rials for 864,500 employees and an average annual increase of 11,100 rials per employee
• A rise in the wages of street cleaning staff to the minimum wage of 20,000 rials
• Exemption of poor families from payment of fees for health care and education by issuing them with a social welfare card, and encouragement of civil society organizations to provide poor people with health services free of charge
(h) Economic and financial reforms implemented during the period 2006-2008 During 2006 and 2007 the Yemeni Government implemented a wide range of reforms involving a variety of elements and policies aimed at promoting rational management of the economy, enhancing global and sectoral economic performance, building donor confidence, developing political participation, promoting freedom of the press and freedom of publication, and reinforcing the role of local authorities in economic and social affairs. The reforms affected many different sectors. For instance, the independence of the judiciary was strengthened in accordance with the principle of separation of powers. The main administrative reforms involved:
modernization of the civil service; reform of the employment, wages and salaries regime;
introduction of a fingerprint system; capacity-building for government training institutions in terms of organization, human resources, and material aids and facilities; and simplification of the
procedures for providing government services to the general public and investors. In the area of economic and financial reform and improvement of the investment climate, agreement was reached on a financial management reform strategy. In addition, the first stage of the project to facilitate and simplify commercial and investment start-up procedures was completed, and a business sector efficiency project was implemented with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) has been set up and is being applied in all the main customs offices and most of the secondary offices.
The Government is endeavouring to implement a package of policies and measures as part of the National Reform Agenda (second stage) in 2009 and 2010.
(i) Impact of the global financial crisis and the food crisis on human rights
The global and regional food crisis, which escalated during 2006 and 2007, had an immediate adverse impact on the economic and food supply situation in Yemen. Comparative food-price figures rose in 2006 and 2007 by about 28.6 per cent and 23.5 per cent respectively. The following price rises were recorded in 2007 for agricultural products: about 148 per cent for wheat, about 62 per cent for dairy products and 66 per cent for vegetable oils. The rise in oil prices on
international markets contributed to an increase in shipping costs which was compounded by cost increases in producing countries.
As a result of the sharp increase in the prices of many imports, especially foodstuffs, the scale of Yemen’s food deficit rose in recent years to attain about 233 billion rials in 2006. The grain deficit accounted for roughly 73 per cent of Yemen’s total food deficit, followed by dairy products and meat.
With a view to cushioning the impact of the rise in food prices and addressing the crisis, the Yemeni Government adopted a large number of measures, including the following:
1. Intensification of procedures for monitoring and curbing offences related to failure to declare prices and commercial fraud as well as specification and measurement offences in all governorates and districts of the Republic;
2. An increase in the number of Social Welfare Fund beneficiaries;
3. Implementation of the second stage of the wages and salaries strategy.
There are also preliminary indications that the global financial crisis will have an adverse impact on economic growth in Yemen.
11. Difficulties and challenges faced by Yemen in implementing