WB launches report on poverty in rural areas in Yemen

SANA'A,Jan.16 (Saba)- The
World Bank (WB) launched last Wednesday a report on poverty in the rural areas in
Yemen within
the preparation for the fourth socioeconomic development plan 2011-2015 for
reducing poverty, the almotamar.net has reported.
In this respect, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdul-Karim
al-Arhabi opened a workshop on reducing poverty in the rural areas in Yemen,
organized by
the planning ministry in coordination with the WB.
In the workshop, al-Arhabi called for exerting exceptional efforts to target the
poorest areas and updating data and information as well as implementing programmed
interventions
on the ground.
The government could not reduce poverty in the rural areas, but it has achieved a
positive impact to reduce poverty in the urban areas,al-Arhabi indicated.
"70 percent of Yemen populations live in the rural areas, and the scattered
population forms a big challenge before efforts of combating poverty", said
al-Arhabi.
He noted to the world food crisis which made the condition worse, as a survey
carried out by the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) on the poor conditions
in Yemen
revealed that the ratio of poor people in the rural areas is between 6-10 percent.
The report noted to some challenges represented in malnutrition in the rural areas,
weakness of assets owned by the poor, population increase, water crisis, women
issue
and the climate changes.
For his part, Director of the WB's office in Sana'a said that the bank focus on the
poverty in the rural areas because Yemen as one of the poor and developing
countries
faces problems relating to poverty.
"We have to start in the areas where most of the population density lives. Poverty
rate has got worse since 2005 and the number of people who fall below the poverty
line
has increased by 10 percent and a half of the populations in rural areas are poor",
he added.
Undersecretary of the planning ministry for development plans sector, Abdul Aziz
Abbasi, reviewed the general trends of the fourth development plan.
For her part, the senior consultant in the WB, Marie Helene, presented a report on
"Strategies for habituating in rural areas in Yemen".
BA