French cooperation in Yemen: long-standing and diverse

SANA'A, Oct. 25 (Saba)- Yemen
and France maintain political, economic, cultural and scientific cooperation
relations.

France supported the unification of Yemen in 1990 and the preservation of its unity
during the civil war in 1994. It played the role of mediator in the conflict over
the
Hanish Islands between Yemen and Eritrea.
Since its reunification, Yemen's bilateral relations with France are very close.
The country has been part of France's Priority Solidarity Zone (PSZ) since February
2002.
As a tool establishing a multi-year framework for French Public Development Aid
(PDA) to Yemen, this Partnership Framework Document (DCP) set out the directions
for French
cooperation in Yemen over the five years 2007-2011.
France's priorities for aid to Yemen are focused on two main sectors (agriculture
and food safety, on the one side, and infrastructures, on the other), as well as
several
cross-cutting sectors, such as: governance (including decentralised and
non-governmental cooperation), cultural diversity and academic and research
cooperation.
Few days ago, Yemen and France signed two cooperation agreements in fields of
financing small enterprise and supporting agricultural training and research in
Yemen. Under
the first agreement, French Social Fund for Development (SFD) provides euro 700,000
for funding development projects in order to improve women living conditions.
The SFD has granted Yemen euro 1,000,000 allocated to support 18 projects and 90
non-governmental organizations.
The second agreement is stipulated to provide an amount of YR 35,000,000 for
supporting and rehabilitating agricultural researches. The agreement aims to
enhance the role
of the agricultural vocational and technical institutes in Yemen as well as to
develop researches in fighting Dubas bugs that affect palms in Hadramout
governorate. The two
agreements were signed by senior Yemeni official and French ambassador to Yemen
Joseph Silva.
In addition, France decided last week to respond to the United Nations Emergency
Appeal for Yemen, by contributing €500,000 to the war-affected displaced Yemenis in
the
two northern provinces of Saada and Amran.
The 3rd Economic and Social Development Plan for Poverty Reduction (2006-2010) is
the framework document for Yemen's development policy. It is a foundation for the
elaboration
and implementation of the Framework Document for the France-Yemen Partnership
(2007-2011).
Long-standing and encompassing a large number of areas, France's cooperation is
soundly-anchored in Yemen, where it contributes, alongside its institutional
partners and
civil society, to the country's development, through its action in the following
sectors: anti-poverty and economic and social mainstreaming for the vulnerable
population,
consolidation of the rule of law, security and the decentralisation process,
know-how and knowledge transfer to priority sectors, such as university education
and research,
agriculture, vocational training and the development of future managers in the
country, relationship- and exchange-building between partners from the two
countries, in particular
in favour of decentralised and non-governmental cooperation, promotion for cultural
diversity and the cultures in Yemen (French Cultural Centre in Sana'a and its
outpost
in Aden).
The Framework Document for the Partnership between France and Yemen (2007-2011)
proposes to build up action programmes from French aid toward high-priority sectors
for the
country.
As part of the cooperation initiatives funded by the TOTAL corporation in the
regions where it operates, a collaborative effort could bring together CIRAD and
the Embassy,
around a project against insect pests on palm and date trees, and the creation of an
observatory in the region of Hadramout (District of Saa).
Cooperation between France and Yemen in the academic and research fields is also
long-standing. Its major avenues will be built up, more particularly university
partnerships
between the two countries and higher education for the future elite of Yemen, in
France (support to fellowship programmes for teachers and students) and in Yemenite
universities
thanks to the development of high-priority scientific degree programmes for Yemen
(support to inter-university agreements).
Scientific and research cooperation between the two countries is also dynamic in
the social and human sciences sector, thanks to the actions developed by the French
Centre
for Archaeology and Social Sciences (CEFAS) in Sana'a and its many partners, both
French (such as the National Centre for Scientific Research) or Yemenite (including
the
universities of Sana'a and Aden, the National Department of Antiquities, the
National Archives Centre).
In 2006, the French Centre in Sana'a for Archaeology and Social Sciences (CEFAS)
signed an agreement with the University of Sana'a to promote high-level cooperation
in the
fields of archaeological, historical, social science and humanities research.
Benefiting from exceptional material and immaterial cultural heritage, largely
unused and increasingly jeopardised, Yemen wishes to promote its riches as a
vehicle for cultural
affirmation and social cohesion, carrying along with it opportunities to take up the
challenges of job creation, openness to the world and economic development
(tourism).