OVERVIEW

COUNTRY PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK

UNDP YEMEN, JULY 2019 - JUNE 2021
 At the end of 2018, in the context of on-going conflict and
a humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) Yemen decided to adopt a
two-year bridging framework.

Outlined here, the resulting Country Programme Framework

(CPF) is designed to be flexible, conflict-sensitive and
adaptive. It will be reviewed periodically and adapted to
accommodate the rapidly-changing circumstances within
Yemen.

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PROGRAMME RATIONALE

Since the outbreak of conflict in 2015, Yemen’s eco- Climate risks

nomic output has decreased by roughly 50 per cent, Yemen’s temperatures are rising more rapidly than
and poverty has escalated dramatically. The prohibi- the global average. By 2060, temperatures could have
tive costs of food and fuel, paired with high increased by as much as 3.3° Celsius and, by the end
unemployment, makes survival extremely difficult of the century, by 5.1° Celsius. Per capita water avail-
for most Yemenis. Approximately 80 per cent of the ability is the lowest in the world and groundwater can
population requires humanitarian assistance; 10 never be replenished to the former levels. Projections
million people are on the brink of starvation; and, suggest that droughts and heatwaves will last longer
more than 3.3 million people are internally displaced. and be more severe.

According to a UNDP Yemen-commissioned study, With approximately 60 per cent of the population
conflict has already set Yemen´s development back dependent on incomes generated through natural
by 21 years. Even if the conflict comes to an end in resources, and with most displaced persons originat-
2022, development will have been set back 26 years ing in rural areas, addressing climate risks is critical
—over one generation. If the conflict persists through to recovery. Actions taken today will help mitigate
2030, Yemen will revert nearly four decades and indi- the effects of climate change on an already complex
rect deaths (caused by lack of access to food, health humanitarian and development crisis.
care, and other basic services) will be five
times greater than direct conflict-related deaths. Women
In 1984, Yemen signed the Convention on the Elimi-
Yemen will not attain any of the Sustainable nation of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Today, however, women are still disadvantaged in the
court of law, and their role in regional and national
While ending conflict in Yemen is the most urgent level decision-making remains marginal. Yemen ranks
priority, any tenable peace agreement will need to last of 149 countries analysed in the World Economic
address the root causes of conflict. This requires an Forum’s gender gap index and last of 160 countries in
inclusive, bottom-up peace process, strengthening UNDP’s gender equality index (0.834).
of local governance systems, and coordination of
formal and informal structures throughout all regions. Currently, Yemeni women cite lack of security – includ-
ing the risk of arrest or ill treatment at checkpoints –
Governance, marginalisation and conflict as a primary concern, further reducing their freedom
As a result of escalated conflict, central government of movement. In 2018, approximately one-third of dis-
transfers, including salaries and investment capital placed households were female-headed; incidences of
to local councils – which were previously a regular girl-child marriage had tripled; and, reported cases of
occurrence in Yemen – are now either irregular or gender-based violence increased by 70 per cent.
have ceased altogether.
Youth
Some local authorities use local revenue from In 2014, almost 50 per cent of Yemeni youth were not
non-legislated taxes and fees to compensate in school, getting trained, or employed. Unemploy-
for some of this loss. At the community-level, ment was three times higher for youth than for adults,
committees help mitigate the impact of conflict and three times higher for female youth than for male
by monitoring aid distribution, creating spaces youth.
for collective decision-making and involving groups
such as women and children, who have traditionally Conflict has exacerbated the situation, reducing
been excluded. Locally, informal indigenous access to education and training. A generation of
structures are essential to conflict resolution, Yemenis is now unequipped for employment and
and the administration of justice and security. susceptible to manipulation by armed criminals or
extremist groups.

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PROGRAMME STRATEGY

UNDP has been working with the government and ty, self-sufficiency and autonomy. At an early stage,
people of Yemen for 53 years. Headquartered in UNDP places local actors in the lead, developing their
Sana’a, UNDP has expanded its presence through- capacity to coordinate and sustain social cohesion
out Yemen over time, establishing sub-offices and and development efforts, and gradually reducing their
programmes in Aden, Hodeidah, Marib and Mukalla dependence on international interventions.
and building partnerships with local authorities and
stakeholders across the country. Because of UNDP’s Area-based programming
comprehensive understanding of Yemen’s changing UNDP’s experience in other conflict settings has
priorities and dynamics, and its ability to serve the Ye- demonstrated that fostering local development –
meni population equally across the regions, parties to even in a humanitarian context and in the absence
the conflict have requested UNDP support local-level of a peace agreement – can improve people´s lives.
governance structures and institutions. Area-based programming uses an area, rather than a
sector or group, as the entry point to provide support.
In relation to these comparative advantages, the CPF Where possible, UNDP Yemen will use its nationwide
considers Yemen´s humanitarian, development and presence to create synergies to increase and expand
peacebuilding challenges and opportunities, and the the impact of its interventions.
lessons learned in the previous country programme
cycle. Conflict-sensitive and adaptive management
Conflict-sensitive programming incorporates knowl-
Within the political space provided by the Office of edge and lessons learned into ongoing and anticipat-
the Special Envoy for the Secretary General for Yemen ed interventions. This requires that UNDP and its part-
(OSESGY) and the United Nations Mission to Support ners analyse and understand the impact of conflict on
the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), UNDP will focus the delivery of area-based programmes and projects,
on structural transformation – building the resilience while also considering impact of interventions on
of Yemeni people and building a foundation for inclu- national and local conflicts.
sive peace.
Adaptive management recognizes that informed
UNDP envisages a situation in which Yemenis can im- programme experimentation, innovation and trial and
prove their livelihoods, contribute to and benefit from error – as well as continuous monitoring – are nec-
peacebuilding processes, and participate in building essary for identifying what should or should not be
inclusive, gender-sensitive governance. To this end, implemented.
UNDP will prioritize practical peacebuilding support;
governance and the rule of law; and, economic recov- Integrated and at-scale programmes
ery and development. Where accessible, UNDP will continue to support
Yemenis throughout the country, either directly or
Humanitarian – Development – Peace Nexus through implementing partners. Reducing transaction
Human welfare and social and economic recovery is costs among other things, UNDP Yemen will transition
a common concern of all parties, providing a natural from smaller projects to larger, at-scale programmes
entry point for confidence and peacebuilding efforts, that provide value-for-money while improving Yemeni
and support to the formal peace process. livelihoods.

While supporting the local peace agreements bro- Country Programme Board
kered by the OSESGY and the UNMHA, UNDP is also UNDP Yemen, its implementing partners, joint UN
building a foundation on which a nation-wide peace programme partners and donors must understand
agreement can be implemented. and ascribe to the conflict sensitive and adaptive pro-
gramme management approach. UNDP Yemen Coun-
UNDP is recognized for its ability to combine imme- try Programme Boards must be established to enable
diate humanitarian assistance with development and periodic programme oversight and adaptation of the
peacebuilding initiatives that increase human digni- Country Programme.

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PARTNERSHIPS AND PRIORITIES

The UN Country Team in Yemen contains 18 agencies, large-scale programmes in Yemen.

funds and programmes. This includes two political
missions – OSESGY and UNMHA – with whom UNDP UNDP Yemen´s three programme priorities are aligned
supports the peace process and implementation of with the UNDP Strategic Plan 2018 - 2021: Outcome 3
the Stockholm Agreement. “Strengthening resilience to shocks and crisis.” Gender
equality and the empowerment of women and girls
UNDP has developed innovative partnerships to is supported with concrete interventions while also
counter famine and contain recent outbreaks of cross cutting all three outcome areas.
cholera. As part of UNDP’s unique and key role in the
humanitarian-development-peace nexus, and while Programme Priority 1:
implementing the New Way of Working, UNDP Yemen Peace operations support
has successfully created partnerships with UN human- Priority one contributes to Sustainable Development
itarian agencies, the World Bank, the European Union, Goals (SDGs) 5, 10 and 16 through the application of
and others. UNDP Strategic Plan Signature Solutions 2, 3 and 6.

The CPF is implemented in partnership with nation- In partnership with OSESGY, UNMHA and the Resident
al and local authorities and civil society, developing Coordinators’ Office, UNDP will implement projects
capacity where necessary. Partnership with national that support the execution of peace agreements and
institutions such as the Social Fund for Development advance the overall peace agenda. The Peace Support
and the Public Works Project enables UNDP to work Facility (PSF) connects confidence-building initiatives
in remote locations and allows for implementation of to the political dialogue facilitated by the Special En-

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voy and supported by the Resident Coordinator. De- of landmines and unexploded ordnance spread across
signed to achieve visible results and build confidence the country – particularly in the West, where the
in political dialogue, these projects are funded by the majority of the population resides. This poses both
PSF and will be implemented at speed by UNDP and immediate physical danger and obstructed emergen-
its partners. cy assistance – including the delivery of food – and
damage infrastructure necessary clean water, basic
The PSF’s initial focus is the implementation of the health care or education, among others. Key priori-
Stockholm Agreement, to provide a humanitarian ties will be to provide access to critical infrastructure,
corridor for the delivery of assistance. However, it is restore essential services and – most importantly –
anticipated that the focus will shift to other conflict-af- reduce human casualties.
fected areas of the country as the political process
evolves. Programme Priority 2:
Governance and the rule of law
In the short- to medium-term, UNDP will identify larg- Priority two contributes to SDGs 5, 10 and 16 through
er infrastructure projects that can support the oper- the application of UNDP Strategic Plan Signature
ationalisation of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa ports in Solutions 1, 2 and 6.
support of the Stockholm Agreement and the overall
peace process. Given the multiple and interrelated dynamics in the
ongoing conflict, the restoration of peace in Yemen is
In parallel, UNDP will contribute to normalisation inextricably linked to safety, security and the rule of
of social and economic activity through continued law.
support to mine action. There are currently thousands

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In Yemen, UNDP will collaborate with the OSESGY, UNDP will coordinate with its implementing partners
the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN Women, the UN to provide training and apprenticeships; restore pro-
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN ductive community assets such as roads connecting
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to facilitate the rural communities to markets; rehabilitate household
security, safety and protection of Yemenis across the water and sanitation infrastructures; promote val-
country and respond to the existing needs and ca- ue-chain development and access to financial services
pacities in both rural and urban areas. Support to the for small business owners; and, improve access to
security sector, particularly the police and coast guard, solar power to improve the productivity of farms and
will help to improve operational and planning capac- other businesses. UNDP also facilitate climate change
ity in areas such as human resources management, adaptation and management of risks such as flooding
training and infrastructure development. and droughts.

Building on political agreements and identified needs

in urban sites, UNDP and OSESGY, will support the
re-deployment of police in identified cities and UNDP INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE
will facilitate the establishment of a community polic- AND DEVELOPMENT
ing system.

Interventions are designed to deepen UNDP support Monitoring and evaluation

to a country-wide system of inclusive local gover- UNDP Yemen has established a practice for project,
nance, anchored on formal local authorities. UNDP country office and external results monitoring and
will customize support to local authorities, based on involves beneficiaries in the process. In addition to
capacity and demand, assisting communities to iden- this, the organisation conducts financial spot checks
tify and claim their rights; as well as supporting police and commissions an annual audit of all projects. In
redeployment, security and justice services. In particu- this Country Programme cycle, UNDP will adopt
lar, UNDP and its implementing partners will develop innovative approaches to monitoring, including
the capacity of the formal justice sector to improve increased use of open data sources, big data sources
services and access to the formal justice system for and GIS mapping, to allow for real-time monitoring
both women and men and facilitate alignment of the – particularly in areas where access is limited. Where
corrections system with international human rights feasible, UNDP will support the development of local
standards. capacities and systems for monitoring, initially focus-
ing on sub-national levels.
Programme Priority 3:
Economic recovery and development Learning
Priority three contributes to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and UNDP will continue to invest in knowledge products –
13 through the application of the UNDP Strategic Plan in particular, studies of the impact of the war on
Signature Solutions 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. development and women focusing on SDGs 1, 2, 8
and 16 . It will also produce an annual publication
Under this priority, UNDP directly contributes to the elaborating UNDP Yemen´s lessons learned during
dignity of Yemenis by increasing their income and experimentation, area-based and conflict sensitive
enhancing self-reliance. Because this enables house- programming.
holds to purchase food and water and to access sani-
tation and health services, these efforts also contrib- Accountability
ute to the famine and cholera response. This two-year CPF has been endorsed by UNDP head-
quarters and outlines the contributions to national
As part of the area-based approach, UNDP will base results and services as the primary unit of account-
economic recovery and development activities on the ability to its governing body for results alignment and
characteristics and opportunities of the local econo- resources assigned to the programme at country-level.
mies and markets. This will include development the
capacities of communities, local authorities and the The organisation’s programme and operations policies
private sector; identification of local economic recov- and procedures and internal control framework de-
ery and development priorities; and, implementation scribe the accountabilities of managers at the country,
and oversight of interventions. regional and headquarters levels.

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PO Box 551
Sana’a, Republic of Yemen

www.ye.undp.org