Shahid Malik Alarabonline - My first visit to Yemen as UK International Development Minister has been an amazing experience and has revealed to me that Yemen is a country with a challenging future ahead, but one with many opportunities too. I have met a wide range of people committed to making Yemen a better, safer and more prosperous country and I have seen an infectious enthusiasm amongst these people to help bring about change and make a real difference to lives of people in Yemen.

But achieving this goal of a more prosperous future is one that can only be done in partnership. I was truly honoured to meet with both the Prime Minister and President during my visit. Our meetings provided the opportunity to reconfirm the strength of the friendship and relationship between our two countries. As part of my visit this week the Governments of the Yemen and the UK signed a new Development Partnership Arrangement, setting out how best our two countries can work together over the next ten years in tackling issues such as improving education, especially for girls, increasing water scarcity and creating new jobs as income from oil begins to decline and the population rises.

The UK is a strong supporter of Yemen: we hosted an international meeting in London last year to bring together many other countries and organisations with a similar desire to help support Yemen; we are increasing our financial assistance to the country to $100 million a year by 2010; and we are committed to long-term partnership. We strongly support the work of the Government, getting behind their priorities to tackle poverty and in particular on pushing forward the reform agenda.

But tackling the challenges that are facing Yemen today, and over the next few decades, is not just about a partnership between donor governments and organisations such as the UK, or with countries across the Middle East and other international partners, however important this is. It is also about a partnership within the country of Yemen, within your own society.

The Government of Yemen is pursuing an essential reform agenda that is helping to strengthen the capacity of the Government to provide services to the people, and helping to tackle corruption. The newly passed Public Procurement Law, and the creation of the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Authority are major steps in the right direction. But they need the support from all corners to ensure positive intentions make a real impact.

During my trip, I visited a small village that is being transformed by a new water tank with a solar powered pump. Through a partnership of new technology and simple solutions, the increased water supply has meant that women and girls no longer put their lives at risk by walking down a dangerous slope to fetch water from the nearest spring. It has also meant that more and cleaner water is being used by villagers, leading to improved health. Less time spent carrying water has increased the amount of children going to school and given more time to women to look after their homes and children. This solution was brought about through a partnership between the Social Fund for Development and the local community itself, sharing the cost and running of the new water supply.

Why is partnership so important? Because the challenges that Yemen faces are today the challenges that we all face. We live in a globalised world; our problems, such as climate change, limited natural resources and growing demands are not respecters of national or international borders. The simple fact is that through strong and effective partnership, we give ourselves the opportunity to overcome these challenges.

*Shahid Malik MP is UK Minister for International Development.
The Department for International Development’s Public Enquiry Point provides information on the work of the Department: telephone 0845 300 4100 within the UK or +44 (0) 1355 84 3132 from outside the UK
Email: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk, www.dfid.gov.uk



-Alarabonline-