Desk review yemen

1.Background

Yemen’s geographic and demographic frameworks are shaping its human environment. Its location between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula has always made it a key transit point for many people seeking refuge from the humanitarian crises – drought, famine and conflict – and for economic migrants in search of a better life and economic opportunities in neighboring Gulf countries. The unification in 1990 of the former Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen), which had contrasting economic and political systems, has shaped the volatility of Yemen’s emerging national identity.

Yemen’s economy remains very fragile and vulnerable, especially to external shocks. Its dependency upon oil reserves is very problematic as these reserves approach exhaustion, and reliance on foreign remittances is subject to geopolitical factors outside Yemen’s control. Water scarcity is critical and its preferential use for qat (a plant chewed as a mild stimulant) production is untenable; it is also counterproductive to children’s livelihoods, is adverse to domestic food reliance and increases food insecurity. External assistance is weak, unpredictable and politicized. Per capita income rates are very low and household poverty is very high, across both urban and rural populations.¹