Yemen and Germany have recently signed six grant agreements amounting to EUR 56.2 million to establish programs in the water and education sectors. The German Embassy in Sana’a announced that Abdul-Karim Al Arhabi, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, and KFW Groups Senior Vice President for MENA and Europe Ms. Doris Koehn signed the agreement in the presence of Mr. Michael Klor-Berchtold, the German Ambassador. 

Germany has been involved in water, sanitation, and education projects in Yemen for nearly forty years. The German Embassy declared that three supplemental financing agreements in the amount of EUR 28.2 million were concluded for the rehabilitation and improvement of water and sanitation systems in provincial towns, and that one supplemental financing agreement worth EUR 2.45 million was concluded for the extension of the sewage project in Aden.

In addition, two financing agreements were signed to provide aid in the education sector. The first was for the development of secondary education under the Girlsí Access Program worth EUR 8.0 million. The second was worth EUR 17.5 and in conjunction with the Social Fund for Development. These programs will focus on improving the quality of education in rural areas.

Human Rights Watch issued a new report titled “Invisible Civilians: the Challenge of Humanitarian Access in Yemen’s Forgotten War” stating that Yemeni authorities, in violation of international law, have severely restricted humanitarian access to the Sa’ada governorate, which has been devastated by four years of armed conflict.
The report also criticized the Al Houthi rebels for preventing humanitarian access to areas under their control. Although the fighting ended in mid-July, the report stated that as of October 2008, approximately 70,000 people in remote areas and towns remain outside the reach of aid agencies. It recommended that the Yemeni government and rebel forces take immediate steps to ensure the victims of the conflict receive humanitarian aid.

The Yemeni government did not allow Human Rights Watch personnel to travel to areas directly affected by the conflict. Thus, the report is based upon information gathered during interviews in the capital Sana’a by individuals who fled the conflict in northern governorates.

The report also examines how the Yemeni governments is banning journalists from the conflict zone in an attempt to keep the subject out of the press, and how it has been accused of cutting off most mobile-phone subscribers in the Sa’ada governorate. Human Rights Watch requested that the Yemeni government end its restrictions on media coverage of the war and its aftermath, and to immediately restore the phone network in the affected regions.

This report follows a previous Human Rights Watch report titled “Yemen: Disappearances and Arbitrary Arrests in the Armed Conflict with Al Houthi Rebels.” This report examines arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances related to the conflicts in Sa’ada.