World Bank approves more than $300m in grants for Yemen

The World Bank has approved a grant of $303.9 million in grants for Yemen to help the country's population access basic services and economic opportunities despite the ongoing conflict with Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the coronavirus pandemic.

The Washington-based lender's International Development Association, which support's the world's poorest countries, will support two projects. One is focused on emergency social protection and the Covid-19 response, and the other on education.

“The new projects are the latest example of how, working closely with long-standing partners, we can scale up support to local Yemeni institutions that use their strong, community-based networks to deliver key services to millions of Yemenis and give them hope for a brighter future," said Marina Wes, the bank's country director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.

The International Monetary Fund has forecast a contraction in gross domestic product of 5 per cent for Yemen, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and years of conflict since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and large areas of northern Yemen.

The World Bank concluded last month that the levels of poverty in the Middle East nearly doubled between 2015 and 2018. Poverty in the Middle East and North Africa region increased to 7.2 per cent in 2018, up from 3.8 per cent in 2015, driven largely by the impact of conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

The World Bank's latest disbursement of aid to Yemen brings the total volume of grants from the IDA to $2.114bn since 2016.

The funds will provide "critical support" to Yemen's population suffering "from years of conflict and food insecurity even before the pandemic struck the country earlier this year", the bank said.

Yemen has become one of the most food-insecure countries in the world, the report said.

An estimated two-thirds of Yemenis are food insecure. Around 10 million are at the risk of famine and two million children require treatment for acute malnutrition, according to UN estimates.

The pandemic meanwhile, has caused further strains on "an already stretched healthcare system, where only 50 percent of health facilities are functioning, and those that are lack basic equipment and supplies," the World Bank said.

The IDA grant will also help reach Yemeni students, teachers and schools and will help in delivery of basic education services.