A government source announced that the eighth Friends of Yemen meeting will take place on September 24 in New York on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. 


POLITICAL PROCESS | THE SOUTHINTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT  | SECURITY | ECONOMIC & HUMANITARIAN ISSUES


 

POLITICAL PROCESS
Yemeni cabinet approves new development projects
In a meeting on August 11, the cabinet approved a grant for a project aimed at strengthening accountability with the International Bank for Reconstruction (IBRD) and Development and the International Development Association (IDA). Under terms of the grant, $6 million will be allocated to improve the implementation of anti-corruption law. [Saba, 8/11/2014]
 
THE SOUTH
Monitoring group says implementation of National Dialogue outcomes falling short

A monitoring alliance that is tracking implementation of the National Dialogue Conference outcomes issued its second report noting that there are serious shortcomings with implementation, and that 71 percent of the thirty-one points addressing the Southern issue have not been implemented.  [Al Masdar (Arabic), 8/14/2014]
 
INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT
UN Special Adviser on Yemen will brief UNSC on August 25, arrives in Sana’a

The United Nations (UN) Special Adviser on Yemen ‎Jamal Benomar arrived in Sana’a on August 16 in order to prepare a brief on the situation in Yemen to be submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session on August 25. [Saba, 8/16/2014]
 
Friends of Yemen to meet on September 24 in New York
A government source announced that the eighth Friends of Yemen meeting will take place on September 24 in New York on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi is expected to attend the meetings. [Al Masdar (Arabic), 8/14/2014]
 
Russia considers upgrading Yemen’s weapons
Yemeni army chief, Major General Ahmad Ali al-Ashawal, met with the Russian senior expert in Yemen on August 12 to discuss updating Yemen’s weapons. They also discussed the possibility of carrying out joint military training for both armies on Yemeni or Russian territories. The Russian expert also confirmed intentions of absorbing greater numbers of Yemeni students in Russian military academies. [Saba, 8/12/2014]
 
SECURITY
President Hadi forms tribal army to fight Houthis and reassigns meditation committee

Following an announcement on August 15 that President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi ordered the establishment of a pro-government tribal army to oppose the Houthis in Jawf, he reassigned a committee formed to mediate a ceasefire. Clashes flared up again on August 15, one day after the mediation committee withdrew from the disputed areas. [Yemen Post, 8/18/2014]
 
Drone kills three suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen
A drone attack killed three suspected al-Qaeda militants on August 16 in Hadramawt. Three armed men were traveling in a vehicle along a desert stretch between Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s border when the drone shot two rockets at them. No details were given on whether it was a US or Yemeni aircraft. [Reuters, 8/16/2014]
 
Al-Qaeda militants launch car bombs and raid bank in Hadramawt
Three Yemeni soldiers and two al-Qaeda militants were killed when security forces foiled an attackby insurgents in Hadramawt on August 14. Coinciding with the attacks, al-Qaeda militants raided the Yemeni international bank in Hadramawt. Later that day, al-Qaeda called on Islamists to target the United States on Twitter after Washington launched air strikes in Iraq. [Reuters, Yemen Post, 8/14/2014]
 
Peacekeeping task force protests and calls for commander to step down
The Yemeni peacekeeping task force designated by the United Nations (UN) protested inside their camp on August 12 and demanded the resignation of its brigade commander, General Mohamed al-Atmi. The soldiers said that they were protesting against General al-Atmi because he sent 300 unarmed soldiers to face al-Qaeda in Hadramawt. [Al Masdar (Arabic), 8/12/2014]
 
Plot to assassinate former Yemeni president foiled
An assassination plot against Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has been foiled, his party claimed on August 11. In a public statement, the General People’s Congress said that a tunnel was discovered under Saleh’s house in Sana’a. They also claimed that the tunnel was to be used to carry out a “terrorist” operation against him. [Sahafa (Arabic), Turkish Press, 8/11/2014]
 
ECONOMIC AND HUMANITARIAN ISSUES
President Hadi justifies oil subsidy reform in Yemen as a patriotic decision

President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi said on August 17 that the recently approved oil subsidy reform was a patriotic decision that was aimed at preventing the fall of the national currency against foreign currencies. His remark was given at a meeting with tribal dignitaries from Haraz and Sa’afan in Sana’a and coincided with calls by Houthis to hold massive demonstrations against the rise in fuel prices. [Yemen Post, 8/18/2014]
 
Education for Yemeni women still rare luxury
Cynthia Milan writes in Al Monitor that female Yemeni students still face pressure to abandon their studies and assume traditional roles in society. There is a persistence in the traditional view of women only getting married and staying at home, Milan writes. In Yemen, Milan explains that the social upbringing in both the center and the countryside prepares girls to become housewives. [Al Monitor, 8/17/2014]
 
Removing thousands of ghost workers from Yemen’s bureaucracy
Yemen’s government began applying a biometric registration system for all military personnel in order to clear the public payroll from double-dippers and so-called ghost workers. Experts say the step has been taken due to pressure from international donors and the public. The cash-strapped government believes that purging ghost employees from the payroll will save millions of dollars every year. [Gulf news, 8/14/2014]
 
Yemen has used only 16 percent of donor aid so far
Head of the Executive Bureau for the Acceleration of Aid Absorption and Implementation of the Mutual Accountability Framework (SEBAA), Amat al-Alim al-Soswa, has revealed that the authorities have received and used only 16 percent out of the $10 billion in donor aid that was pledged after the 2011 unrest. [Yemen Post, 8/11/2014]