Yemen’s financial adjustment and structural reform programme agreed with the IMF and the World Bank will remain the basis for economic policy during 2001. The Government is improving social safety net arrangements in order to curb the hardship that would arise from reform actions.

Civil service reform is one of the most politically important aspects of the reform programme that Yemen has agreed with IMF. The current plan calls for a 20 percent cut in the overall number of civil servants by 2003. With unemployment estimated at between 20 percent and 40 percent, the Government is facing considerable resistance to the reform. As a measure to ease the difficulties, the reform programme calls for a creation of a civil service fund, which will, for a limited time, continue to pay the wages of redundant employees. Yemen’s real GDP growth estimated at 4.9 percent in 2001 is expected to decline to 4.0 percent in 2002 as oil-production and export growth rates fall back from recent highs.

A new government was formed in April 2001. It is expected that the new government will continue its efforts for the implementation of economic reforms and structural adjustment programmes. The parliamentary election due in April 2001 is postponed until 2003, extending the life of parliament from four to six years.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) was formerly known as the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MOLVT). Established in April 2001, it aims at integrating the issues of labour and social services in order to give effect to the Government’s policy of enhancing the living standards of the Yemeni people through measures aimed at contributing to sustaining workforce stability, higher worker productivity, fair work conditions, and the provision of social services to needy families and disadvantaged groups.

Dr. Abed Al-Karim Al-Arhabi was appointed the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour in April 2001. Prior to the present appointment, Dr. Al-Arhabi was the Director of the Social Fund since 1996.

The Country Employment Policy Review (CEPR), expected to be completed by the end of 2001, will provide guidelines to the government in the formulation of labour and employment policies in several areas such as employment and labour market trends, macroeconomic stability, education and training policies, job creation, small and medium enterprise development, and labour market policy and social protection.

The Federation of Yemen Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FYCCI) groups 18 member chambers of commerce and industry. It is expected that the Federation and chambers will establish new policies and strategies within the framework of the new law. ILO provided technical and financial contributions to the national financiers and businessmen conference, which was organized, in January 2001, jointly by the Aden Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Planning and Development and the Ministry of Emigrant Affairs.

The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) is scheduled to shortly join the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU) in Brussels. ILO played a catalytic role in this respect. ILO conducted a national workers’ seminar on wage policy in May 2000 and fielded a technical advisory mission on social security reforms. A new DANIDA-funded project "Workers Education" is being launched shortly (budget: $170,800). A project formulation mission was fielded to Yemen in July 2001.

Also, ILO provided technical and financial contributions to employers’ and workers’ bipartite national seminar on "The Impact of the Working Environment and Investment on Human Resources Development and Productivity" (November 2000)

ILO is currently executing the National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (budget $1.4 million – US government). The project was launched, in December 2000, with a view to: establishing the appropriate policies and programmes: strengthening the capacities of the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations: and providing support and services to children who quit working and their families;

Yemen is benefiting from a study for comparative analysis of national legislations and practice in light of ILO Core Conventions, which is being undertaken in GCC States and Yemen.

Fellowship for participation in the training course " International Labour Standards for Lawyers and legal Educators" (Turin, September 2000).

ILO has been implementing the components related to labour market information systems (the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) and human resources development (the Ministry of Planning and Development) in the UNDP-funded national execution programme entitled "Support to Yemen Poverty Alleviation Programme". (UNDP, budget for ILO components: $668,065): the ILO components are contributing to the national efforts for poverty alleviation through strengthening the Govt. capacity on labour market monitoring and on policies related to employment and human resources.

A technical advisory mission on LMIS is planned for September 2001, the mission will provide technical consultancies on the current situation of the labour market in Yemen, educational standards, the national employment needs, and will analyze the results of the 1999 labour force survey.

Two planning missions to undertake the Country Employment Policy Review (CEPR) were fielded to Yemen (October 2000 and July 2001). The proposed plan for CEPR has been endorsed by the Government. The CEPR consists of a series of research studies, surveys and national seminars providing a policy platform on Employment Promotion. This activity is scheduled to be completed in 2001.

Technical advisory services and a national seminar on the strategy for promotion of female employment were carried out during the period under review, resulting in formulation of a project proposal entitled "Strengthening the National Machinery for the Advancement of Women’s Employment" (beneficiary: the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs), which was submitted to the Dutch Govt. for consideration of funding on the basis of the positive reaction of its local representative in Yemen.

Yemen has benefited from ILO’s activities at the sub-regional level as follows: "Sub-regional Workshop on Practical Mechanisms to Link Training and Employment" (Kuwait, February 2001) and "Sub-regional Workshop on Alternative Approaches to Finance Skill Development Programmes in the Arab States" (Jordan, May 2001).

Fellowships were awarded for participation in the following four Turin training courses: "Training Promotion and Development of Local Employment Initiative (May 2000); "Training on New Trends in Vocational Education and Training Policy Analysis" (July 2000); "Training on Public Service Reform and Development (November 2000) and "Training on Management of Technical Cooperation" (March 2000).

National training workshops were organized related to occupational safety and health: international labour standards related to occupational safety and health (April 2000); and training of trainers on occupational safety and health (January 2001); profile on occupational safety and health in Yemen was also finalized and published. The profile resulted in formulation of a project document entitled " National Programme for the Improvement of Employment Conditions through Occupational Safety and Health), which was submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Planning for consideration and inclusion in the Yemen’s second Five-Year Plan.

Technical advisory service to workers’ organization on social security reforms (October 2000);

Fellowships were awarded for participation in the following two Turin training courses: "Promotion of Women Worker’s Rights" (November 2000); and "Training on Pension Schemes Financing and Social Security" (November 2000).

Yemen participated in the regional workshop, "Comparative Analysis of International and National Standards on Occupational Safety and Health Workshop", organized in Beirut jointly by the Turin Center and ARMAT in April 2001.

Workers national seminar on wage policy organized in May 2000.

Yemen participated in the "Arab Inter-regional Meeting on the Promotion of Tripartism and Social dialogue" (Beirut, October 2000).

ILO provided technical and financial contributions to: employers’ and workers’ bipartite national seminar on "The Impact of the Working Environment and Investment on Human Resources Development and Productivity" (November 2000); and the national financiers and businessmen conference (January 2001).

Fellowships were awarded for participation in the following two Turin Center training courses: "Training on Trade Union Training for Collective Bargaining" (October 2000) and "Conciliation and Mediation" (November 2000).

Yemen has ratified 28 ILO Conventions including all eight core Conventions, namely:

• Convention No 29: Forced Labour, 1930
• Convention No.87: Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948
• Convention No.98: Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, 1949
• Convention No.100: Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951
• Convention No.105: Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957
• Convention No.111: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), 1958
• Convention No. 138: Minimum Age Convention, 1973
• Convention No. 182: Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999

During the period under review, Yemen also ratified the following Convention:

Convention No. 144: Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards), 1976 (ratified on 15.06.2000)

 Updated by CHW. Approved by RD. Last update: 3 August 2001.