Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Seventy-third session

13 February–3 March 2023

Item 7 (a) of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports: reports submitted by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

Replies of Yemen to the list of issues in relation to its third periodic report * , **

[Date received: 22 December 2022]

Replies of the Republic of Yemen to the list of issues in relation to its third periodic report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

General information

1.The Government of the Republic of Yemen is pleased to provide the Committee with clarifications regarding the list of issues and the supplementary questions raised by the Committee in E/C.12/YEM/Q/3, in relation to the third periodic report. The Government of Yemen welcomes the resumption of positive and constructive cooperation with the Committee and wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to the members of the Committee for their continuous efforts to promote human rights in Yemen and other countries around the world. Yemen also wishes to express its regret for the delay in submitting the present replies to the list of issues, which was due to the exceptional circumstances the country is facing.

2.Before replying, the Government of Yemen would like to apprise the Committee of the following the political, economic and security developments that have taken place in the Republic of Yemen between 2013 and 2022.

I.Political developments

3.An armed insurrection against the legitimate government was launched in June 2014 by Houthi terrorist militias supported by Iran, who spread war to most parts of Yemen and used armed force to seize control of the State’s civic, economic and service-related institutions including military camps and arsenals. The armed insurrection then escalated in March 2015 when the armed militias came to occupy most governorates and looted State assets from the Central Bank and government departments.

4.The legitimate Government and the President-elect left the capital Sana’a for the temporary capital Aden, and on 24 March 2015 the Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations, Ambassador Khaled al-Yamani, presented the President of the Security Council with a letter from the President of the Republic stating that he had requested the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Arab League to provide immediate support, using all necessary means and measures, including military intervention, to protect Yemen and its people from the continuing aggression of the Houthis. On 29 March 2015, the Arab League Summit issued resolution No. 625 affirming its support for legitimacy in Yemen, as represented by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and its full commitment to preserving the unity and territorial integrity of Yemen. The resolution also welcomed the Arab Coalition, announced backing for all military measures the Coalition might take to defend legitimacy and called on the Houthis to withdraw immediately from Sana’a and the other cities and to relinquish the heavy and medium-sized weapons they had seized from the legitimate Yemeni authorities.

5.On 14 April 2015, the Security Council issued resolution 2216 (2015) expressing support for legitimacy in Yemen as represented by the President of the Republic. The resolution also dwelt on the gravity of the circumstances and of the humanitarian situation, and on the fact that civilians were being denied access to humanitarian assistance and relief, and it called upon the Houthis to withdraw their forces, relinquish all the weapons they had seized and cease actions that are exclusively within the authority of the legitimate Government.

6.Following a disagreement between the legitimate Government and the Southern Transitional Council in 2019, Saudi Arabia sponsored the Riyadh Agreement between the Government and political forces from the south of Yemen, which led to the formation of a government consisting of 24 ministers, including some from the Transitional Council and from the major political forces in Yemen. Political events continued following the Riyadh Agreement with the Government preparing its first political programme and a call from the President of the Republic for the convening of the first parliament, to be held in the city of Say’un in the governorate of Hadramawt. The parliament duly approved the Government’s programme and the draft of the State budget for 2019, the first since the coup of 21 December 2014 (some of the more significant budgetary indicators are attached). In accordance with the Riyadh Agreement, Presidential Decree No. 175 of 2018 was issued for the creation of the Supreme Economic Committee, which has the task of formulating economic policies, supporting the Government in economic matters and backing government efforts to combat corruption. Also under the Riyadh Agreement, new governors were appointed for the governorates of Aden, Shabwah and Ta’izz, while the Government made an undertaking before parliament that it would achieve economic stability and alleviate the suffering of all Yemenis, including in governorates outside government control.

7.As part of the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement, national consultations among all political forces were held in Riyadh in March 2022, the aim being to increase involvement in decision-making at the top of the power hierarchy and to unify the front with a view to extending State authority, ending the insurrection and achieving economic stability. For the sake of the supreme national interest, President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi issued a declaration for the transfer of power and the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council, which has eight members representing the south and the north of the country equally and is headed by Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. The Council of Representatives held an extraordinary session in the temporary capital Aden during which Council members took the constitutional oath before parliament and the Council formed a joint security and military committee charged with achieving security and stability and restructuring the armed forces and security agencies, under article 5 of the Declaration of Transfer of Power. The Council also issued Decree No. 21 of 2022 concerning the restructuring of the Supreme Judicial Council, which includes provision for the appointment of the President and members of the Supreme Judicial Council, one of the members being a woman, the first time in the country’s history that a woman has been appointed to the highest judicial body in the land. The Decree also envisages the appointment of the Prosecutor General and of the President of the Supreme Court. The Declaration of Transfer of Power includes provision for the formation of a national body for consultation and reconciliation and of a legal-economic team to assist the Presidential Leadership Council in the performance of its duties.

8.In its address before parliament, the Presidential Leadership Council announced its intentions in the area of the economy: to regularize salary payments to all civil servants, to improve pay in the army and security services, to continue to disburse pensions to retired civil servants and military and security personnel, to stabilize the national currency, to recover assets of the Central Bank, to increase exports, to rationalize spending, to create a suitable environment for investment, to reduce unemployment, to curb falling prices, to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and to improve the quality of government services.

9.On 21 November 2022, Houthi militias targeted the oil-exportation ports of Dibbah and Al-Nashima, and they continue to threaten territorial waters and Arab national security. As such actions constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, the Presidential Leadership Council issued a decree classifying the Houthi militias as a terrorist group and directed the Government to enact the measures necessary to put the decree into effect promptly. In its turn, the Office of the Public Prosecution issued Decree No. 17 of 2022, which concerns the inclusion of individuals and entities on the list of terrorist groups, while the Governor of the Central Bank issued a decree listing the commercial and economic institutions that support and finance the Houthi terrorist militias. This was part of a series of measures taken by the legitimate Government and the Presidential Leadership Council to protect the national interests of the Yemeni people, to curb the financing of the war against the Yemeni people in all Yemeni governorates and to respond to the repeated attacks by Houthi militias against the vital economic institutions and interests of Yemen.

10.In the context of national peace consultations under the auspices of the United Nations, in December 2018 the Government of Yemen signed the Stockholm Agreement then duly fulfilled all its concomitant obligations in the conviction that this would have a humanitarian impact on the lives of people in the governorate of Hudaydah and neighbouring governorates, which are among the areas most affected by the insurrection and the war. However, the Houthi militias have sought to obstruct the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement in Hudaydah, thus increasing the suffering of people in that governorate and meaning that the agreement has not achieved the desired humanitarian goals but has become part of the militias’ own war gains. Their violations can be summarized as follows:

The militias refused to redeploy their military forces from the city of Hudaydah and from the ports of Hudaydah, Salif, and Ra’s Isa, and they failed to hand over maps of mines or to remove the mines themselves. They also refused to hand over responsibility for law enforcement in the city of Hudaydah and the three ports to local security forces under Yemeni law;

The Houthi militias have disrupted the work of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) meaning that, for the three years following the Stockholm Agreement, the Mission was unable to implement its mandate under Security Council resolution 2452 (2019). The Government of Yemen has repeatedly called for UNMHA headquarters to be moved to a neutral location in order to enable it to carry out its tasks;

The Houthis have failed to implement the economic portion of the Hudaydah Agreement which concerns the deposit of revenues from the port into the Central Bank in Hudaydah as a contribution to the payment of salaries; in fact, they stole those revenues – which for oil derivatives alone, amounted to more than 1 billion Yemeni rials (YRI) for the years 2019 and 2020 – and have used them to finance their actions in the war;

The Houthi militias violated the Stockholm Agreement by occupying the city of Hudaydah and its environs on 11 November 2021, following the redeployment of the joint forces and their taking up positions 30 km from the city. This was followed by reprisals, killings, looting and arrests among the civilian population in those areas;

The ports of Hudaydah have become a centre for receiving weapons smuggled to the Houthi militias from Iran, for manufacturing booby-trapped boats and for launching pirate operations to threaten international shipping, most recently with the hijacking of the United Arab Emirates vessel Rwabee by Houthi militias on 2 January 2022.

11.In 2022 Yemen called for this matter to be treated with the attention it deserved by international and regional forums. It has also called for rapid action in order to avoid pollution of the Red Sea environment by exerting greater pressure on the Houthi militias to allow maintenance of the floating oil storage vessel Safer, which contains more than 1.1 million barrels of crude oil. And it has called for its own institutional capacities to be strengthened in preparation, with the provision of the mechanisms, equipment and capabilities necessary to deal with the expected catastrophe. Yemen has also called for financial resources to be made available to offload the oil contained in the storage vessel. Within the international community, these efforts culminated in the United Nations emergency plan for the floating oil storage vessel Safer, which was prepared by the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen and his office, in cooperation with the relevant United Nations agencies, and has estimated costs of $144 million. The Government has given a great deal of attention to this matter; it has worked to iron out all the difficulties facing the emergency plan, contributed funding of $5 million and expressed its openness to any cooperation required. Hope remains alive in the international community for the completion of the second phase of the plan.

Course of the peace negotiations

12.In order to meet the effects of the humanitarian crisis and its impact on the Yemeni people, and in pursuit of comprehensive peace, on 4 April 2022 the Presidential Leadership Council and the Government approved the proposal of the United Nations Envoy for a humanitarian truce for a period of two months. The truce envisaged a ceasefire, the reopening of Sana’a airport for humanitarian flights, the reopening of the port of Hudaydah to bring in predefined quantities of oil and the opening of the main roads and crossing points into the besieged city of Ta’izz. The truce lasted from 4 April 2022 to 30 May 2022 and was then extended from 1 June to 30 August 2022 and then for a further two months until 2 October 2022. Efforts are being made by the United Nations to extend the truce for a longer period in return for an undertaking on the part of the Houthis to use the revenues of the port of Hudaydah to pay the salaries of government employees in areas under Houthi control, on the basis of the civil service pay scales of 2014. However, the Houthis have rejected all international and United Nations efforts to extend the truce and to pay out the salaries to government employees, whom they force to work without pay, thereby exacerbating the state of poverty.

II.Economic developments

13.In 2015, the conflict stemming from the armed insurrection of Houthi militias and their repeated attacks on infrastructure led to the collapse of the economy and the cessation of oil exports, which constitute the country’s main export, principal source of government revenue and chief economic activity. This has had a significant impact on overall economic activity and has led to the widespread suspension of fundamental public services and of payment of civil service salaries, the rapid devaluation of the currency and the shortage of imported goods. It is estimated that, between 2015 and 2021, losses in gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to $125 billion in real value. A summarized comparison of the most important economic indicators is given below:

Socioeconomic indicators	2014	2020
Nominal GDP (in billions of YRIs)	7 140	6 997
Inflation rate	10.4	16.3
Per capita GDP	1 212	867
Percentage of the population below the national poverty line	48.6	80
Unemployment rate	13.5	32
Average cost of United States dollar	215	850
Price of cooking gas	3 500	5 580
Average price of petrol per litre	158	450
Average price of diesel per litre	150	400

Source : Socioeconomic report of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, Aden, 2020 .

14.The banking sector suffered severe damage when armed Houthi militias took control of the banking system and the Central Bank in Sana’a, seized the $789 million balance of the General Corporation for Social Insurance and appropriated the monetary supply in the Bank. It should be noted that pre-war indicators showed a monetary supply of local currency of YRI 1.7 trillion, while unsourced monetary reserves amounted to YRI 450 billion, distributed between Sana’a (300 billion) and Hudaydah (150 billion). All international initiatives to make the economy neutral have been rejected. Eager to protect national interests, the Government has engaged with the international community and a decision was taken, with the approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to transfer the financial centre of the Central Bank to Aden. However, the Houthi militias took retaliatory action, issuing decrees to prevent the circulation of currency issued by the Central Bank in Aden and imposing a monetary policy that has led to the division of the banking system, the escalation of the economic crisis and a further deterioration in the value of the Yemeni rial, which has fallen against the United States dollar from YRI 230 in 2014 to YRI 1,800 in 2021. It has since settled at YRI 1,020 after the Government took the following series of measures aimed at maintaining the stability of the banking sector:

Restructuring the managing board of the Central Bank of Yemen under Presidential Decree No. 14 of 2021;

Building foreign currency reserves and ensuring the sound management of the recent $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates;

Reorganizing and reforming the banking sector and ensuring transactions are undertaken via the Central Bank, in order to regain control of cash flow;

Depositing government revenues in the Central Bank in Aden and reorganizing government spending under a monetary policy that promotes financial stability.

III.Increased impact of natural catastrophes

15.Yemen is considered as a country at risk of catastrophes, primarily those associated with climate change. This hinders the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, which have the purpose of providing security for communities, protecting property and infrastructure, guaranteeing services and protecting cities, ecosystems and the sustainability of natural resources. In fact, climate change-related cyclones and flooding have increased over previous years and, due to its geographical location, the country has been hit by several cyclones, storms and barometric depressions, notably Chapala, Megh, Sagar, Mekunu, Luban, Kyarr, Maha and Shaheen. Together, those events led to considerable loss of life and property, destroyed livelihoods and displaced thousands of families from homes that were damaged or destroyed. They also caused extensive damage to infrastructure and services and to natural and archaeological heritage sites. There can be no doubt that the recurrence of cyclones and depressions at a rate of once or twice a year portends future losses and tragedies that will have an even more deadly impact on the country and society, especially in the light of its high level of vulnerability.

16.The Government disbursed a total of 31,021,226,176 to rectify the damage caused by floods and torrents in 2019 and 2020, in the governorates of Aden, Abyan, Ta’izz, Shabwah and Lahij.

Please provide information on all measures taken by the State party to ensure that its armed forces do not violate economic, social and cultural rights, including measures related to training, operational instructions, monitoring, accountability and remedies for victims. Please provide examples of such measures

17.Within the framework of efforts on the part of the Government to fulfil its obligations under the Covenant to ensure that its armed forces do not violate economic, social and cultural rights, the authorities have worked alongside partners on a series of training programmes for officers and non-commissioned officers in military regions.

1.Training

18.In 2019, the Ministry of Defence, in partnership with the Centre for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), ran a training programme on international humanitarian law in the governorates of Aden, Ma’rib, and Jawf. Eight workshops were held, attended by 203 officers and non-commissioned officers from the armed forces, the security services and the military police, from various military formations in those governorates.

19.A workshop was held on 6 September 2022 on the subject of “The Law of War: international humanitarian law in armed conflicts”, organized by King Naif University in cooperation with the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen. The three-day workshop, which was part of the plan of training programmes offered to personnel of the Coalition’s Joint Forces Command, covered a number of themes, notably international humanitarian law, the institutional framework of international humanitarian law and the protection of persons and objects from crimes committed against them, in accordance with international law.

20.On 28 August 2022, a workshop on the concept of international and humanitarian law and human rights principles was run for commanders and members of the Joint Forces. A total of 23 officers from the Tihamah Forces, the Zaraniq, the Amaliqa and the Republican Guard, participated in the initiative, which lasted five days.

21.On 18 October 2021, a training course on international humanitarian law was run in partnership with the Geneva Call organization for police officers in the capital Aden and for Security Belt Forces stationed at checkpoints. More than 20 persons participated in the training, which included the presentation of a working paper on the important role played in society by the security sector, the concept of international humanitarian law and the importance of respecting it, the significance of human rights law and the treatment of civilians by the police.

22.On 13 September 2018, a first training course was held for the members of the Joint Technical Committee on guidelines for protecting children from the effects of armed conflict. Thirty persons attended the course including military personnel, civilians and members of the Committee secretariat in the ministry.

23.A workshop on international humanitarian law was held on 24 May 2022 to review progress in the plan of action signed by the Government of Yemen and the United Nations in 2018. The workshop was attended by a delegation from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and members of the Joint Technical Committee on the Prevention of Child Recruitment.

24.On 12 March 2021 – as part of the implementation of the road map to prevent child recruitment signed between the Government and the United Nations in 2018 – the Ministry and the Quadripartite Committee on the Prevention of Child Recruitment, acting under the patronage of the Minister of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, convened a virtual meeting with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The meeting served to discuss various aspects of cooperation, steps taken and those still remaining in order to remove Yemen from the “B” list of countries that violate children’s rights, and child protection during the conflict in Yemen.

Operational Guidelines for the Promotion of Human Rights

25.Ever eager to roll out operational measures to promote human rights, the Government has issued a body of relevant decrees, notably the following:

Decrees No. 91 of 2018 and No. 109 of 2018 of the Council of Ministers in which the Government reaffirmed its commitment to the agreement reached in 2014 regarding the formation of the Joint Technical Committee on the Prevention of Child Recruitment, with elements drawn from all competent governmental bodies. The purpose of this initiative is to review and implement the joint action plan to end child recruitment in the light of the new situation, integrate activities for the protection of children’s rights in Yemen and tackle the phenomenon from its roots while taking account of its national cultural dimensions and addressing its causes;

By decree of the Council of Ministers, the Joint Technical Committee drew up a road map then submitted it to the Council of Ministers. The Council then issued its Decree No. 109 of 2018 approving the updated road map from the 2014 plan of action;

The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces issued Order No. 2.Q.A/12 of 2020 regarding the prevention of the recruitment of children into the ranks of the armed forces or the security services. This is a military order addressed to the Minister of Defence that aims to prevent children under the age of 18 from being recruited into the armed forces and directs that anyone violating its provisions is to be referred to the military courts.

26.Three hundred copies of documents containing military instructions and orders were copied and packaged, then distributed as part of the programme of field visits to military regions between 7 and 26 May 2022. The documents – delivered into the hands of first- and second-ranking military commanders – comprise military directives issued by the Minister of Defence and the Minister of the Interior in order to promote human rights and international humanitarian law. They include the following:

Memorandum from the Minister of Defence to the Department of Ethical Guidance No. W.D.137 SH 20, of 3 March 2020. It envisages awareness-raising programmes on the subject of child recruitment as a crime punishable by law and on children’s rights, the issuance of appropriate manuals and lectures to be delivered in military units;

Memorandum from the Minister of Defence to the Chairman of the Training and Habilitation Authority No. W.D.29./K.M 20, of 3 March 2020. It envisages training programmes on the dangers of child recruitment and on other grave violations of children’s rights;

Memorandum from the Minister of Defence to the heads and directors of military departments and the chiefs of military areas, formations and units No. W.D.S.TH/20, of 3 March 2020. Its purpose is to prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18. If any violation is found to have been committed, the children concerned are released and the persons responsible for recruiting them are held accountable, while there is coordination with local authorities in the governorates with a view to rehabilitation;

Memorandum from the Minister of Defence to the head of military intelligence, the director of military intelligence and the head of the military police No. W.D.28.K.M 20, of 3 March 2020. It envisages the drafting of a plan for periodic and systematic inspection campaigns in military and security units to ensure that they are not practising any form of child recruitment, as well as inspection campaigns in training camps in coordination with the Joint Technical Committee, with any violations to be referred to the military courts;

Circular containing the text of the protocol approved by the Government of Yemen regarding the handover of children captured during military operations;

Memorandum from the Minister of Defence regarding the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, which has been approved by the Government of Yemen;

Directives from the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior No. 27/K/2020 and No. 14/Z/2, of 6 July 2021, as well as directives from the Minister of the Interior aimed at excluding all persons under the legal age from joining the ranks of the security services;

Circular from the Minister of Defence to all military regions and units regarding compliance with international humanitarian law and rules of engagement, distinction between military and civilian targets and the avoidance of civilian casualties.

Monitoring and investigation

27.The events in Yemen of 2011 ended with the signing of the Initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council by the political players involved. That agreement envisaged the formation of a national commission of investigation on human rights violations, and this was reaffirmed by Human Rights Council resolutions concerning Yemen issued between 2012 and 2014. Thus, the National Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate alleged human rights violations as an independent national mechanism acting under Presidential Decrees No. 140 of 2012, No. 13 of 2015 and No. 50 of 2017. It conducts investigations into allegations of human rights violations that have occurred in all governorates of the Republic of Yemen since 2011 and until the State is able to regain control over the whole of national territory. The Commission has continued to conduct its work and, as of 2022, has issued 10 annual reports regarding violations by all sides and in all governorates of Yemen. According to its mandate, the Commission is to refer all verified violations to the courts.

28.The Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights monitors violations committed by the Houthi militias. Its work in this regard is carried out by a network of local observers in the country’s various governorates, including areas under the control of the Houthis, thanks to partnership with civil society organizations and human rights activists.

29.The Ministry has opened a phone number for receiving complaints and reports of violations from the different governorates and it has issued a report on the violations it has monitored which includes the following significant indicators:

A total of 3,694 human rights violations as well as 18,171 violations of the United Nations-sponsored humanitarian truce committed by the Houthi terrorist militias were monitored by the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights in coordination with the competent ministerial authorities during the period covered by the report (1 September 2021 to 31 October 2022);

During the course of the truce, the ministerial team verified 701 killings – 101 children, 21 women, 33 older persons and 546 men, including military personnel – and 1,490 injuries – 177 children, 63 women, 24 older persons and 1,226 men, including military personnel. The numbers show that 204 persons were killed and 750 injured by indiscriminate shelling; 201 were killed and 290 injured by landmines; 137 killed and 337 injured by gunfire; 71 killed and 87 injured by sniper fire; 34 persons were executed or physically eliminated; 13 were assassinated; 13 died as a result of torture; 5 were killed by being run over; and 23 were killed and 26 injured by other means;

According to the figures, most of the dead were in the governorate of Hudaydah (198) followed by the governorate of Ma’rib (133), the governorate of Ta’izz (95) and the governorate of Bayda’ (54). The remaining deaths were distributed between the governorates of Jawf, Hajjah, Amanat al-Asimah, Shabwah, Sa’dah, Ibb, Dali’, Amran, Lahij, Sana’a, Dhamar, Raymah and Mahwit;

The Ministry documented 529 cases of abduction, illegal detention and torture in 18 governorates. These include 468 cases of abduction, 29 of enforced disappearance and 32 of torture. Of those abducted, 39 were children, 5 were women and 16 were older persons while the victims of enforced disappearance included 5 children and 1 older person and the victims of torture 2 women and children and 2 older persons;

The Ministry verified 191 cases of child recruitment, including 124 children who were killed in the ranks of the Houthi militia and 7 injured during the fighting. Three children were detained by government forces while fighting for the Houthi militia while a further 45 children continue to be engaged in combat operations and 2 have returned from theatres of combat to re-join their families. The fate of 5 children remains unknown. The governorate of Sana’a saw the highest proportion of child recruitment, with 39 children involved, followed by the governorate of Sa’dah with 28 children then the governorate of Ibb with 21. The rest were distributed between the governorates of Hajjah, Ma’rib, Dhamar, Hudaydah, Amanat al-Asimah, Dali’, Amran, Raymah, Jawf, Mahwit, Ta’izz and Bayda’;

The Ministry monitored more than 783 violations of private and public property, 654 of them involving private property. Of all the facilities and assets involved, 145 were completely destroyed, 228 were partially destroyed, 47 were demolished using explosive charges, 59 were sequestered or confiscated, 166 were stormed and occupied and 90 were looted. Moreover, 39 facilities were closed and 9 facilities were used as military bases.

Please describe the steps the State party is taking to protect its population from violations of their economic, social and cultural rights by third parties, including as a result of attacks on the infrastructure and institutions critical to the provision of the rights, such as health-care facilities, food storage and production centres, water facilities and schools. Please include information on any steps taken to monitor, investigate and hold accountable those responsible for such violations and to provide effective remedies, including reparations, for victims. Please provide examples of situations in which the State party has exercised due diligence to protect Covenant rights in the context of the current conflict

30.The Government of Yemen is taking a number of measures to fulfil its mandate to prevent the rights of its citizens from being violated by third parties. These measures include:

(a)Monitoring and documentation on the part of the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, which has issued a series of reports on violations committed by the Houthi militias in all Yemeni governorates;

(b)Intense diplomatic and political activity with the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen and the Ambassadors of the Permanent Members of the Security Council, and a weekly Zoom meeting with Ambassadors of the European Union in order to report on the violations committed by the Houthi militias;

(c)Cooperation with international mechanisms on the part of the Government, which has worked through the competent authorities to coordinate cooperation and facilitate the task of the Security Council’s Group of Experts in the period 2018–2022. The names of the new leadership of the Houthi militias have been included in the international sanctions list under a Security Council resolution in February 2021, notably one particular leader who, under resolution 2564 (2021), was included on the list for being implicated in enforced disappearance and sexual assaults against women, see: https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N21/052/06/PDF/N2105206.pdf?OpenElement.

(d)Participation in the annual meetings of the Human Rights Council and delivering the statement of the Government of Yemen concerning agenda item 5;

(e)Initiation by the competent authorities of court cases against the leaders of the armed Houthi militias, who were involved in or responsible for violations. This includes:

A verdict issued in case No. 4 of 2020, brought by military prosecutors on behalf of the third military region in the city of Ma’rib in which a sentence of death was handed down against high-ranking leaders of the Houthi militias;

Specialized criminal prosecutors in the governorate of Aden brought case No. 67 of 2020 against the Houthi militias, defining it as a terrorist group that undermines security and stability;

Case No. 167 of 2018, which includes a demand that the Houthi militias be put on trial, is being considered by the specialized criminal court in the governorate of Aden.

(f)The National Commission of Inquiry into alleged human rights violations has referred 5,000 casefiles from all sides to the Office of the Public Prosecution which, in turn, has delegated a judicial committee to review the files. The committee is headed by a senior lawyer in the Office of the Public Prosecution, who was appointed under Decree No. 88 of 2020 of the Public Prosecutor to supervise military justice and human rights cases;

(g)Decree No. 1 of the National Defence Council regarding the inclusion of Houthi militias on the list of terrorist groups, in line with national law and the international treaties ratified by Yemen, which directs the Government to take legal steps to implement the Decree.

Compensation

31.As part of efforts to guarantee victims’ right to redress, justice and compensation, the Government of Yemen has been working effectively with the Incident Assessment Team that was established by the leadership of the Arab Coalition. They have sought to uncover the truth about errors that led to injuries among civilians and have begun compensation proceedings for those affected. In the first instance, 113 civilians were compensated for 6 incidents caused by airstrikes; all 113 cases received compensation for an overall amount of 2,593,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (SRI). The aid was delivered in coordination with the Government of Yemen and via a joint committee set up to register the persons affected and verify their names.

32.The Government provides emergency services to victims of violations while local authorities provide emergency assistance and treatment to victims of incidents in the areas under their jurisdiction. Some of this is done at State expense, with the Government disbursing $2 million to that end in 2021, some thanks to assistance programmes with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and some thanks to interventions from organizations within the humanitarian response plan such as the International Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Médecins sans frontières and others.

33.Among the directives issued to the Government by the head of the Joint Leadership Council in his speech before parliament was a call to establish, without delay, a supreme national body for the care of war wounded and the families of martyrs. The Government duly launched the institutional measures to establish such a body.

34.The Government has made the establishment of a compensation and reparation fund for human rights violations part of its annual plan for 2023. Work on that front will proceed in line with international standards and successful international precedents in that field.

Please provide information on the implementation of the State party’s plan for the reconstruction of areas, buildings and other facilities, and indicate how economic, social and cultural rights are taken into account in specific reconstruction strategies. Please indicate how the rebuilding of destroyed schools, medical facilities and other public infrastructure, including in areas not controlled by the Government, is envisioned

35.The state of war and conflict has led to a deterioration of the State’s public revenues, a split in financial administration and the fragmentation of tax and customs systems. Most of the oil and gas sector, as well as other productive sectors have been paralyzed and the Ministry of Finance is unable to pay the salaries of State employees, particularly in areas outside the control of the legitimate Government. In addition, the socioeconomic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the investment programme was frozen between 2020 and 2021. For all of those reasons, the Government has been unable to implement its plan or to adhere to its national budget.

36.Despite this, the Government of Yemen remains responsible for and committed to the rights of the Yemeni people. It continues to evaluate damage and assess needs in all areas affected by war and conflict and it has developed a plan of priorities for the reconstruction and refurbishment of buildings destroyed by the war, including projects that depend on external funding in the form of grants and assistance, and the support of donor countries.

Examining funding requirements and infrastructure projects

37.Infrastructure projects affected by the war; other projects with social, humanitarian and development implications; and interventions and programmes of an institutional and administrative nature have all seen increased funding requirements. At the same time, needs and priorities are expanding at the economic, social and humanitarian levels, while the state of war and conflict has made the country almost entirely dependent on external funding. For this reason, the Government of Yemen, through the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, is seeking to identify priorities in coordination with local authorities and institutions in various governorates. To that end, the local authorities coordinate with population centres to define priorities, particularly vis-à-vis projects of a social, service-related or humanitarian nature. The Government strongly believes in the importance of the right of the community to determine its own most pressing priorities, in coordination with the relevant authorities. In general terms, this means directing external funding towards development, such as the most recent contribution of an estimated $400 million in the form of a grant from Saudi Arabia, which has been fast-tracked to infrastructure projects and basic services. At the same time, the support provided by the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been allocated to the Strengthening Institutional and Economic Resilience in Yemen (SIERY) project.

The Public Works Project

38.This is a successful State institution the operation of which the Government seeks to facilitate in all regions, including governorates outside government control. It acts as the local-level government partner and, in 2021, was selected and contracted by UNDP to implement infrastructure projects under the Strengthening Institutional and Economic Resilience in Yemen (SIERY) project.

Governorate	No. of projects	Cost	Level of completion
Aden	122	1 811 697	70%
Lahij	101	835 809	80%
Ta ’ izz	80	907 824	67%
Hadramawt	286	1 799 441	74%
Ma ’ rib	32	526 589	64%
Total	621	5 881 360	71%

39.The level of completion of the projects that are to be implemented from the 2021 budget of the Public Works Project is shown in the table above, alongside their costs and completion rates as of 24 March 2022 and the governorates and districts concerned. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated $3.158 million to be used via the Public Works Project to improve basic infrastructure by rebuilding schools for displaced persons and host communities in all regions and governorates of Yemen that have been affected by the conflict. In addition, an estimated $3.678292 million has been allocated for the rebuilding of 502 classrooms, 10 water networks and 5 water harvesting projects. There is also a youth employment project, funded with $25 million by the Islamic Bank, as well as a rural development programme which has received funding of $19.48 million and in which the Public Works Project has been contracted to run 169 activities through community contracts in the targeted areas.

Social Fund for Development

40.Between 2015 and 2020, the Social Fund for Development implemented a total of 1,400 projects at an estimated overall cost of $354,328,689. The projects included social safety nets, community development initiatives and the development of microenterprises in all governorates of the country.

Exemptions and facilities for international organizations

41.In the course of 2021, the Ministry of Planning monitored 286 projects being run by 71 international and local organizations with funding amounting to €281,395,360, 127,676,502.470 pounds sterling, SRI 786,344.260, Can$9,793,53 and 13,934,752 Swedish krona. A total of 863 customs exemptions were granted, as well as 1,033 entry visas and 374 entry permits.

42.Recovery and reconstruction are being hindered by a number of challenges, including:

Lack of availability and instability of services and infrastructure;

Repercussions of conflict and war on social cohesion;

Political and security instability and the absence of a sustainable peace capable of restoring normality and ending conflict and fragility.

B.Issues relating to the general provisions of the Covenant (arts. 1–5)

Right to freely dispose of natural wealth and resources (art. 1 (2))

Please explain how the State party intends to achieve a more equitable allocation of the benefits from the exploitation of its natural resources to the various parts of the country. Please provide information on the impact of the measures taken to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and to address their degradation so as to preserve the livelihoods of farmers, fishers and other persons working in rural areas who depend on natural resources

43.The agricultural and fisheries sector has suffered over recent years, leading to a decline in production and a deterioration of resources. The most significant cause of this state of affairs is the war that has been raging in the country since 2015, as well as climate change, which has provoked cyclones and floods. Among other factors, the coronavirus pandemic has also had a serious impact on agricultural and fisheries production. On top of this, between 2015 and 2022 there have been shortages in the budgets necessary for agricultural activity, including the management of nature reserves, and all of this has meant that many poor families in rural areas are losing the livelihoods on which they depended.

44.The Government has taken several actions in this connection:

In the agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Fisheries has rolled out a plan to enhance food security 2022–2027. The plan envisages a better use of natural resources and steps to prevent their depletion in order to preserve the livelihoods of farmers, fishers and other workers in rural areas who are dependent on natural resources. In fact, farmers and fishers are the persons chiefly responsible for administering crops and fisheries, for it is the farmers’ concern to increase wheat production per unit area and to attend to the crop from the tilling of the soil to the sowing of the seed, all the way through to harvesting and marketing. The same applies to fishers, from the catching of the fish through to their sale on the market. The plan has 7 main components and 28 subcomponents in the form of activities and projects (agricultural and fishery resources; increased production of grains, vegetables and cash crops; livestock and fisheries and the building of institutions). In all, the plan envisages 219 projects for an estimated total cost of YRI 89,643,052 over five years.

The Government has taken several measures to protect fish stocks in territorial waters from overfishing, commercial fishing and marine piracy, and it has taken action to fix and regulate fishing seasons.

Action has been taken to reduce the economic and social impact of the floating oil storage vessel Safer. More than half a million Yemenis work in the fisheries sector, of whom 83,000 are members of 135 fishing associations and it has been estimated that more than 18,500 persons working in the sector, including nearly 17,000 fishers, could lose their jobs if catastrophe were to strike the Safer facility. Moreover, according to statistics, about 126,000 fishers and workers from coastal communities in Yemen could lose their jobs and income if the habitat of 850,000 tons of Yemeni fish stocks in the waters of the Red Sea were to be destroyed. The tourism sector would also be severely affected by an environmental disaster of that magnitude, leading to the loss of thousands of jobs, unemployment, increased hunger and the economic collapse of coastal communities;

Under a 2021 decree of the Council of Ministers, the Government announced the addition of two more nature reserves to the list of nature reserves. They are at Ras Umran in the capital Aden and Khor Amira in the governorate of Lahij. Pilot projects are being run to create artificial coral reefs and to enhance knowledge among fishers about value chains;

Research has been conducted to assess and evaluate how to regulate the exploitation of resources in order to ensure sustainability and preserve the livelihoods of communities, first and foremost fishing and farming communities;

The Government has made demining a priority, in order clear agricultural land. This is part of the Masam Landmine Removal Project, which is supported by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Programme, for areas on the western coast in the governorates of Ta’izz and Hudaydah where the Houthi militias laid large numbers of mines;

The Government has relaunched agreements with international organizations regarding the importance of sustainable projects that seek to improve livelihoods and develop rural areas, and it is seeking to implement those projects using institutional mechanisms that operate successfully in all the country’s governorates. They include:

The local and community development programme of the Social Fund for Development, which aims to:

Improve access to basic services such as education, water, health care and rural roads, in areas most in need. This will contribute to the implementation of the Government’s poverty alleviation plans and of various national sectoral strategies, focusing on enabling communities to identify the resources they have available, prioritize their needs and plan and implement their initiatives to address those needs, on an ongoing basis;

Simplify and facilitate beneficiaries’ contribution towards the cost of projects, with a focus on renewing and optimizing the use of available local resources while avoiding any strain on these resources;

Continue to support and promote local development within the framework of the national local governance strategy, by building the technical and operational capacities of local authorities to enable them to run or participate in running projects financed by the Fund, while developing the indicators necessary to assess performance and manage resources.

Please describe the steps taken by the State party to secure the Safer oil tanker and the outcomes thereof. Please provide further information on the impact of the measures taken to address water scarcity and the insufficient waste management capacity in the State party

45.The Government of Yemen has long been aware of the potential risks posed by the deterioration of the floating oil storage vessel Safer. In 2018, the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent eight letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council calling for assistance from the United Nations to solve the problem by sending a technical team to assess the condition of the storage facility, carry out the necessary maintenance and offload the stored oil in order to avoid a potential disaster.

46.The Ministry of Water and the Environment has conducted a technical study on the potential environmental risks associated with the deterioration of the floating oil storage vessel Safer. The report was circulated to international organizations and foreign embassies in November 2019 to make them aware of the looming catastrophe and to mobilize the international community into putting pressure on the Houthi militias to divest themselves of those oil reserves in order to prevent any disaster.

47.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded to the appeals of the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a letter to the Minister dated 10 December 2019 in which he states: “As you are aware, delays since September 2018 have led to the suspension of the assessment on several occasions. Most recently, in September 2019, the de facto authorities in Sana’a refused to approve the deployment an evaluation team from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the mission was cancelled on 10 September 2019. The United Nations remains ready to provide assistance and could deploy a fully equipped assessment team within three weeks of receiving confirmation that they will be able to proceed.”

48.On 11 March 2020, the countries bordering the Red Sea, including Yemen, sent a joint letter to the President of the Security Council asking the Council to assume its legal responsibility and exert maximum pressure on the Houthis to allow the United Nations team access, in order to evaluate the storage facility and perform the necessary maintenance.

49.In response to a request from the Government of Yemen, the Security Council held a special meeting on 15 July 2020 to discuss the Safer oil storage vessel, and the Government of Yemen announced its approval of the proposal submitted by Special Envoy Martin Griffiths regarding the Safer facility. The proposal consists of three phases: first, examination, assessment and urgent repairs; second, basic maintenance to facilitate the discharging of oil from the vessel; and third, disposal of the vessel, with all revenues from the sale of the oil to be used to pay civil servants’ salaries.

50.Despite all these efforts, the Houthi militias continue to hold the vessel as a deterrent, a time bomb with which to threaten Yemen, the region and international shipping routes.

International assistance

Please describe the measures the State party has taken to mitigate the effects of the closure of seaports and airports and of road blockades on its population’s access to humanitarian aid, including essential food, medicine and fuel. Please inform the Committee about the assurances the State party can make regarding non-interference in the delivery of aid, including quick approval of projects, to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the population are expeditiously and effectively met. Moreover, please clarify: (a) The scope and geographical coverage of humanitarian relief overseen by the State party, including through the High Relief Committee

51.Firstly, the Government would like to make it clear that not all seaports, airports and roads are closed. The exception to this is the port of Hudaydah, which was closed for a short period after it emerged that it was being used for military purposes, but activities then resumed under the supervision of a United Nations inspection team. As concerns the roads that have been closed by the Houthi militias in conflict areas, permission is nonetheless granted for the passage of humanitarian aid and of commercial activities, regardless of the current conflict. Sana’a airport is not fully closed and is used by aircraft of the United Nations and some international organizations. Moreover, the airport has long been employed for the humanitarian evacuation of emergency cases by aircraft of the United Nations and international organizations.

52.The United Nations-sponsored humanitarian truce, signed in April 2022 and subsequently extended, allows for the importation of oil derivatives through the port of Hudaydah in return for implementing the provision of the Stockholm Agreement according to which revenues from the port are to be deposited into the Central Bank and used to pay the salaries of government employees in all the country’s governorates, on the basis of the civil service pay scales of 2014.

53.Secondly, the State has taken the following measures:

Calling on all international organizations to provide assistance and holding consultations and meetings with representatives of United Nations agencies and humanitarian relief agencies;

Facilitating entry procedures for organizations by granting work permits and entry and residency visas to their personnel, including to international staff based in Sana’a;

Providing international organizations with all the data they need and avoiding any interference in their operations or the imposition of rules or restrictions that would hinder their work;

Signing memorandums of understanding with organizations for the provision of aid and the implementation of projects;

Facilitating the work of organizations by granting them customs exemptions on the material they import; this includes providing effective assistance to humanitarian groups to enable them to import humanitarian supplies smoothly;

Maintaining safe corridors for the movement of staff from organizations, protecting and facilitating their travel between governorates and regions, in coordination with local authorities.

54.Thirdly, since 2016 the Government has been providing all the facilities necessary for the implementation of the United Nations humanitarian response plan and has helped to mobilize international support for the plan. The actual amounts provided by donor States over the years are as follows:

In 2012, $326,374,446; in 2013, $395,844,880; in 2014, $357,937,349; in 2015, $885,349,585; in 2016, $1,026,177,227; in 2017, $1,756,418,682; in 2018, $2,511,018,682; in 2019, $3,635,579,634; in 2020, $1,999,842,954; in 2021, $2,425,247,763; and in 2022, $1,087,946,637. The total amount disbursed under the humanitarian response plan is $37,426,129,269 across all Yemeni governorates.

(b)The extent to which coordination by the Committee enables humanitarian needs to be identified and met

(c)Whether the Committee collaborates with the Supreme Council for Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation, the Houthis’ aid coordination agency

55.According to the decree of 2015 under which it was brought into being, and the decree of 2016 under it which it was re-established, the High Relief Committee has the following tasks:

Ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid to all affected Yemeni citizens in dire need in all governorates;

Delivering aid while respecting the principles of neutrality, integrity, humanity and non-discrimination;

Undertaking the general (centralized) supervision and control of all humanitarian relief work in Yemen;

Representing the Government of Yemen in all matters related to relief in Yemen wherein humanitarian needs are to be identified and met through coordination with the High Relief Committee;

Forming subcommittees in all governorates under the chairmanship of the Governor or his representative and with members drawn from local authorities, chambers of commerce and civil society organizations. The High Relief Committee has set rules on how the subcommittees are to carry out their tasks;

Conducting field surveys in coordination with the competent authorities to determine the relief needs and priorities of affected communities and groups;

The High Relief Committee brings the list of requirements to the attention of international relief organizations working in Yemen and encourages them to uphold the relevant international standards in that regard. The requirements are also brought to the attention of the Gulf Coordination Office, of which the High Relief Committee is a member and attends its monthly meetings that are held in the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre;

The High Relief Committee can affirm that it does not cooperate in any way with the supreme council of the Houthis. The latter, in fact, is an unlawful group which practises the most heinous violations against the Yemeni people outside the control of the legitimate Government and which prevents international organizations from conducting their activities, as a form of blackmail and in order to achieve political gains and support the war effort of the Houthi militias.

Examples of violations committed by Houthi militias against humanitarian operations

56.The Government of Yemen has monitored numerous violations of international humanitarian law wherein the Houthi militias have prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid. These include:

Between 2015 and 2016, the Houthi militias sequestered 60 vessels carrying food aid arriving at the port of Hudaydah, and they looted 241 relief trucks and confiscated the food aid they were carrying;

The militias have used imported fuel to open black markets and thus derive a profit from the humanitarian aid and facilities provided by the Government and the United Nations. Organizations have estimated the amount of these illicit gains at $145 billion;

In June 2018, the Houthi militias shelled warehouses belonging to the World Food Programme (WFP) in the governorate of Hudaydah;

In December 2016, the Houthi militias stole 5,500 food baskets in the governorate of Mahwit.

(d)Please provide further information on steps taken to ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered without discrimination by all actors involved

57.The legitimate Government and its international partners conduct multisectoral surveys in order to identify the people most in need.

58.In 2018, during discussions around the humanitarian response plan, the Government submitted a proposal to the United Nations concerning the decentralization of relief and humanitarian operations in order to benefit all governorates, with the provision of 22 land and sea corridors. The corridors serve to ensure the delivery of aid to all the country’s governorates, without discrimination, including governorates under the control of the Houthi militias, which are located close to the aid entry and distribution points. This takes place in partnership with civil society organizations and the High Relief Committee to ensure that the aid reaches all Yemenis in all governorates, without exception. In addition to this, the legitimate Government has identified the difficulties facing the work of organizations and has provided exemptions and facilities, also by assigning the port of Ma’alla’ for the delivery of aid from WFP. Moreover, the Government has allocated WFP four hectares of land in a number of Yemeni ports in which to build storage warehouses to specifications intended to ensure the preservation of the goods they contain.

Maximum available resources (art. 2 (1))

In order to assess how the State party uses its available resources to the maximum to give effect to the Covenant rights, please provide information, for the last ten years, on:

The level of public revenue

59.As a consequence of the war and the fact that the Houthi militias gained control over financial institutions and customs points, public revenues have been interrupted entirely in certain governorates. Once the Government had established itself in Aden, it took a body of measures intended to promote the flow of revenues into the Central Bank of Aden. Revenues over the past ten years are shown in the following paragraph.

60.In 2016, YRI 672,000; in 2017, YRI 349,000; in 2018, YRI 798,088; in 2019, YRI 1,183,382; in 2020, YRI 928,462; in 2021, YRI 1,455,446; and in 2022, YRI 2,072,628. All amounts in millions of Yemeni rials.

The proportion of public revenue that is financed through taxes

61.In 2012, 22.7 per cent; in 2013, 29.3 per cent; in 2014, 30.2 per cent; in 2015, 49.1 per cent; in 2016, 58.7 per cent; in 2017, 47.8 per cent; in 2018, 49.6 per cent; in 2019, 88.0 per cent; and in 2020, 71.8 per cent.

(a)Public expenditure as a percentage of GDP

62.In 2012, 36.22 per cent; in 2013, 30.80 per cent; in 2014, 27.78 per cent; in 2015, 19.43 per cent; in 2016, 16.07 per cent; in 2017, 8.39 per cent; in 2018, 14.26 per cent; in 2019, 12.89 per cent; in 2020, 11.77 per cent; and in 2021, 10.73 per cent.

(b)The proportion of military expenditure

63.There are no accurate indicators regarding military expenditure, due to the multiple factors involved and, especially, the ongoing war. The Government undertakes to pay the salaries of members of the armed forces and the security services in the liberated areas. Support is also forthcoming in the context of joint cooperation agreements between the legitimate Government and the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen.

(c)The proportion of revenue allocated to social rights

64.The following proportions were spent on social services such as education, health and social protection:

In 2012, 14 per cent; in 2013, 6 per cent; in 2014, 12 per cent; in 2015, 5 per cent; in 2016, 4 per cent; in 2017, 1 per cent; in 2018, 2 per cent; in 2019, 2 per cent; in 2020, 2 per cent; and in 2021, 1 per cent;

Up to 2016, this refers to disbursements at the level of all governorates; however, between 2017 and 2021, the amounts spent from the general budget went only on the governorates liberated from the Houthi militias. It should be noted, moreover, that the decrease in spending for the years 2018 to 2021 was due to low revenues and the cessation of oil exports.

(d)New means of mobilizing resources to make up for the loss of public revenue since the beginning of the conflict

65.The Government is making constant efforts using all available means to improve the country’s economic situation. Political, economic, financial and monetary measures have been taken that have led to relative stability in the currency exchange rate and the curbing of inflation. In fact, the value of the United States dollar – which had reached YRI 1,800 in the second half of 2021 – fell to YRI 1,020 at the beginning of this year, then oscillated between YRI 900 and YRI 1,159 up to September 2022.

66.In addition to this, the efforts made to improve and develop internal revenues led to a complete cessation of overdrafts from the Central Bank of Yemen to cover the budget deficit during the first half of the year. The Government has also sought to obtain in-kind and financial assistance from its supporters, most notably a fuel grant for electricity production provided by Saudi Arabia for a value in excess of $400 million for one year; i.e., until May 2022.

67.Saudi Arabia has also provided a grant to cover the expenses of students studying abroad. This and other economic, financial and monetary measures have brought about a partial improvement in the economic situation, particularly following the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council and the achievement of a considerable measure of political stability and security.

68.The efforts made and the measures taken had a significant impact on the increase in internal public revenues during the period between January and September 2022, which amounted to YRI 2,072.63 million as compared to YRI 1,272.80 million during the same period of 2021. Revenue increased by 159 per cent.

The most significant measures taken by the Government are as follows:

(a)It has taken action to collect taxes in liberated areas. This includes Council of Ministers Decree No. 49 of 2018 regarding the collection of an additional 5 per cent in value-added sales tax under the law, from importers who are not registered with the Central Tax Authority in Aden.

(b)It has worked to increase customs and fiscal revenues by adjusting the exchange rate of the Yemeni rial against the United States dollar for customs purposes. In that regard, the customs exchange rate for the United States dollar, which was set at YRI 250 per dollar, was subsequently adjusted by 100 per cent to YRI 500 per dollar under Decree No. 7 of 2021 of the Council of Ministers, with certain items being excluded from the increase in the rate, under Decree No. 22 of 2021 of the Council of Ministers. It is expected that these provisions will lead to an increase in customs revenues of more than 60 per cent and an increase in sales tax revenues of around 100 per cent.

(c)It has rectified foreign currency exchange dealing at the Central Bank of Yemen for transactions with public revenues in hard currency (revenues and expenditures) and adopted an exchange rate in line with the parallel market rate, as per a memorandum signed between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Yemen in January 2022.

(d)It has formed committees that bring together all stakeholders involved in the operation of land and sea border crossing points in liberated areas. The committees have the task of evaluating and fine-tuning the operation of those crossing points, and this too has increased tax and customs revenues by putting an end to the reductions previously applied by local authorities in some governorates as a consequence of the war being inflicted on the country by the Iranian-backed racist Houthi militias. Another consequence has been the correction of certain imbalances in the operation of many border crossing points, and a tangible increase in customs and fiscal revenues.

(e)It has amended certain pieces of legislation concerning the level of fees during the year 2021/22, in order to better reflect the marginal cost of the service provided. Amendments have been introduced via the following legislation:

Council of Ministers Decree No. 39 of 2022 approving the amendment of fees and costs for the exportation of fish products;

Council of Ministers Decree No. 37 of 2022 concerning the amendment of fees on cigarettes and cement that are devolved to the Young Person’s Welfare Fund.

Fees related to the commercial register and commercial services, as follows:

(a)Council of Ministers Decree No. 3 of 2022 amending the fees envisaged in Presidential Decree No. 276 of 2000 promulgating the implementing regulations of Act No. 23 of 1997 regulating the agencies and branch offices of foreign companies and houses;

(b)Council of Ministers Decree No. 4 of 2022 amending the fees envisaged in Presidential Decree No. 192 of 1999 promulgating the implementing regulations of Act No. 37 of 1992 concerning the supervision and control of insurance companies and brokers;

(c)Council of Ministers Decree No. 5 of 2022 amending the fees envisaged in Presidential Decree No. 217 of 2000 promulgating the implementing regulations of Companies Act No. 22 of 1997.

69.Within the limits of its possibilities, the Government is working to monitor, collect and develop its revenues, using various ways and means. These include training courses to build capacity among persons who work in that field, closing loopholes and rectifying many of the imbalances imposed by the war.

Please also inform the Committee about any developments concerning the recovery of stolen assets, as provided by Council of Ministers Decree No. 126 of 2014 convening a special session to discuss the bills on transitional justice and national reconciliation and on the recovery of looted funds

70.Following their insurrection, the Houthi militias took control of the capital Sana’a and the State authorities first left the country then moved to the temporary capital Aden. This took place after all political forces had approved the outcomes of the national dialogue, one of which was a recommendation to adopt a new constitution containing an entire chapter dedicated to rights and freedoms and another to good governance. Another recommendation concerned the need to adopt a bill on the recovery of stolen assets, so the Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 126 of 2014, which included provision for the formation of a committee to draft such a bill and submit it to the Council of Ministers. However, on 21 December 2014, before the committee could complete its labours, the Houthi militias rejected all political agreements and imposed themselves by force of arms using methods similar to those of terrorist organizations, suspending the law, intervening in the work of the courts and claiming a divine mandate similar that of the Church in the Middle Ages.

Please provide information on the process of adoption of the public budget by the State party in light of the inability of the parliament to hold regular sessions, and on the system in place for overseeing its implementation

71.Article 88 (1) of the existing Constitution states:

“The draft general budget is to be submitted to the Council of Representatives at least two months before the beginning of the fiscal year. A vote is then to be taken on the draft, chapter by chapter, before it is enacted by law. The Council may not modify the draft budget without the approval of the Government. No allocation of revenue for a specific purpose may be authorized except by law. If a budget law is not enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year, the budget of the previous year is to remain in force until the new budget is approved.”

72.The budget is to be drafted following the stages set forth in the Finance Act and the Guide for the Preparation of the State Budget, as follows:

Preparatory stage, which includes:

The formation of the Supreme Budget Committee, the technical committee and budget preparation committees in the various units of the State’s administrative apparatus, at the local and central levels;

The drafting of a general framework and of indicatory budget ceilings by the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the competent authorities; i.e., the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of the Civil Service, the Ministry of Local Administration and the Ministry of Oil;

The discussion and approval of the general framework and of the indicatory budget ceilings by the Supreme Budget Committee;

The drafting of the periodical circular of the Ministry of Finance setting forth the rules, principles and guidelines for preparing the budget;

The Ministry of Finance is to make the various units of the State’s administrative apparatus aware of the indicatory budget ceilings and of the rules and guidelines for preparing the budget;

The Ministry of Finance receives the draft budgets, which are then discussed by technical committees with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of the Civil Service, the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Local Administration;

The Ministry of Finance collects the draft budgets, issues them in their definitive form and submits them to the Supreme Budget Committee and the Council of Ministers for them to approve before referring them to parliament for enactment;

Following discussion in parliament, the budget is referred to the President of the Republic for him to issue the Budget Act;

For the units of the State’s administrative apparatus in areas that have not been liberated, there is coordination with the offices representing those units in the temporary capital Aden;

The budget of 2014 is taken as the basis for drafting the State budget, taking due account of changes due to laws and decrees that have led to increases or decreases in revenues and expenditures.

Monitoring implementation:

When implementing the budget, the units of the State’s administrative apparatus are required to adhere to certain legal rules, directives and procedures;

They are required to submit reports in the form of monthly declarations, which act as expense ceilings itemized under economic headings that include recurring monthly expenses such as salaries and wages as well as the operational expenses necessary for running the unit in question. There are also certain kinds and types of non-continuous expenses, which require supporting documentation that the authorities must submit to the Ministry of Finance and which are then reviewed before the expenses can be released;

These include, by way of example, contractual payments, participation in conferences and other events abroad and training courses abroad;

As concerns chapter IV, the investment programme is launched in accordance with special rules and the administrative units may not enter into any commitments in that regard except with the prior approval of the Ministry of Finance; they are also required to abide by the Tenders and Auctions Act to ensure the control, transparency and accountability of expenditures;

The Ministry of Finance controls all spending operations through its representatives in administrative units at the local and central levels;

In addition to this, expenditures are also checked post factum through monthly, quarterly and annual reports that are submitted to the Ministry of Finance for analysis and review. The Central Office for Control and Auditing also does post facto checks on all financial operations carried out by administrative units, by conducting field visits, examining documents and scrutinizing the spending procedures followed. Moreover, the Central Office coordinates with the Ministry of Finance by exchanging data and reports, in line with current laws.

(a)Mechanisms and decision-making procedures for the management and oversight of public debt

73.The Constitution, the Finance Act No. 8 of 1990 as amended, the Public Debt Act No. 18 of 1995, the regulations governing foreign loans and aid issued under Council of Ministers Decree No. 296 of 2002 and Act No. 14 of 2000 regulating the Central Bank of Yemen as amended by Act No. 21 of 2003 all envisage decision-making mechanisms and procedures for the management of public debt.

74.In fact, article 16 of the Constitution states that the executive has no authority to contract or guarantee loans, to underwrite a project that entails financial obligations on the State or to make payments from the State treasury in a particular year or in coming years, without the approval of the Council of Representatives.

75.This provision is reaffirmed in article 32 of the Finance Act.

76.For its part, the Public Debt Act sets forth the regulations governing debt and authorizes the Central Bank, acting on behalf of the Government, to issue government bonds for the following purposes:

Financing investment projects;

Withdrawing cash surplus and using it to economic advantage;

Under the Act, the bonds committee has the right to determine the size, value and type of government bonds that can be issued in a given year, the permissible size and value of government bonds as well as the conditions for debt recovery;

Under article 32 of the Act regulating the Central Bank of Yemen, the Bank may not grant loans or extend financial facilities to the Government or any governmental body, except under exceptional circumstances. Indeed, the Act allows the Government to receive temporary financing from the Bank in the form of emergency loans, provided that such loans are consistent with the objectives of the Bank’s monetary policy. The loans must not entail an increase in the total amount of the original withdrawal which, for each loan to the Government, is a maximum of 25 per cent of the average annual budget revenues for the previous three years for which accounts are available, provided that the maturity period of such loans does not exceed six months.

77.Certain measures are taken before any government funding request, the most significant of which are:

Learning the amount of the total budget deficit and the extent to which the Bank is able to grant the Government facilities to cover that deficit, fully or in part, in the light of the Bank’s own monetary policy;

Oversight of the debt is carried out by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and, subsequently, by the Central Office for Control and Auditing and the legislature.

(b)The impact of measures taken to combat misappropriation of social benefits by State officials and tribal leaders, as raised by the Committee in its previous concluding observations (E/C.12/YEM/CO/2, para. 16)

78.The operation of the Social Welfare Fund has ceased and social assistance is disbursed through direct cash transfers to beneficiaries, via UNICEF and under a strict control mechanism which serves to ensure that the aid reaches the beneficiaries directly without the intervention of any social or military forces. This takes place via local banks using a system of fingerprint and electronic verification.

(c)Investigations carried out by the State party into reports of illicit enrichment through transactions at the Central Bank involving the manipulation of foreign exchange rates

79.The Committee has denied the report of the Group of Experts, which was also taken up by the media, regarding suspicions of money laundering and the manipulation of exchange rates. In fact, that information was untrue, and the Government formed committees to inquire into the issue including into the investigations conducted by the Group of Experts which, in subsequent reports, retracted its allegations. In fact, the information was corrected following complete explanations provided by the Government to the effect that the matter had concerned subsidies on food prices during a certain period when traders importing food had been granted an appropriate foreign currency exchange rate.

80.In cooperation with IMF, the Government has issued a raft of decrees aimed at restoring confidence in the banking system. They include the following:

The management board of the Central Bank issued Decree No. 2/7 of 2022 to establish a committee for the granting of permits to conduct banking affairs. The board also issued a further decree establishing a committee to grant licences to banks;

The management board of the Central Bank issued Decree No. 2/9 of 2022 to amend the amount of the legal reserves banks are required to hold and to retain 25 per cent of banks’ annual profits;

The management board of the Central Bank issued Decree No. 2/8 of 2022 to raise the capital required for banks operating in Yemen to YRI 45 billion;

The Central Bank has issued a number of circulars on the due diligence to be exercised by banks and exchange companies under laws and regulations to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism via financial remittances. The circulars also concern the use of financial systems, the gathering of information about amounts involved in bank transfers and oversight procedures.

(d)Investigations conducted into reports of embezzlement of public resources in the governorates of Ma’rib, Mahrah and Hadramawt and their outcome

81.Prosecutors for offences against public assets have not had to deal with any cases involving the embezzlement of public resources in those governorates. If any such case were to arise, the judiciary is fully independent in the action it takes to hold perpetrators accountable and to recover public assets. One of the Government’s priorities in the plan it has submitted to parliament is the launch of an anti-corruption system and of competent specialized agencies.

Non-discrimination (art. 2 (2))

Please provide information on the steps taken to collect and generate disaggregated data to assess needs in relation to the enjoyment of the Covenant rights, identify disadvantaged and marginalized groups and develop relevant policies and programmes. Please indicate the extent to which the State party’s policies and strategies address discrimination against the Muhamasheen with regard to their enjoyment of the Covenant rights, including their inadequate living conditions and lack of access to decent work

82.Ever since the insurrection succeeded in taking control of the nodal points of the State, Yemen has been experiencing a political situation that is having a deleterious impact on the economic situation of all groups in society, including disadvantaged and marginalized groups. There are a number of anti-poverty programmes but they are ineffective and some ceased activity altogether when the Houthi militias seized control of a large part of the country’s economic resources. Around 17 million people suffer food insecurity, 20.6 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, 9.8 million are suffering hunger and 1 million children are malnourished.

83.Working with its international partners, the Government is seeking to reactivate the system of social protection in Yemen, which includes a raft of social policies and programmes that provide benefits to disadvantaged and marginalized groups, without discrimination. In fact, the Government has already acted to roll out a policy intended to stabilize the price of energy and oil derivatives, to relaunch payments under the social security programme (retirement pensions), which cover persons working in the public sector and in the formal private sector, and to activate social safety nets. This includes the ongoing disbursement of unconditional cash transfers via UNICEF, in accordance with the policies of the Social Welfare Fund, as well as the ongoing disbursement of conditional cash transfers via the cash-for-work programme, which is being run through the Social Fund for Development. At the same time, in-kind benefits are provided to persons with disabilities through the Fund for Persons with Disabilities. In addition to this, the Government has renewed agreements under the labour-intensive public works programme, which is being run by the Public Works Project, and it is continuing to run programmes to develop small-scale and micro-businesses, with support from the Social Fund for Development. This includes financial services delivered by microfinance institutions and non-financial services provided by the Small and Microenterprise Promotion Service. The Government is implementing programmes of the Agricultural and Fisheries Projects Fund, as well as community service programmes that, via the Social Fund for Development, seek to support the livelihoods of marginalized and war-affected groups.

C.Issues relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant (arts. 6–15)

Right to work (art. 6)

Please provide information, including statistical data, on the impact of measures taken to provide assistance and compensation to those whose livelihoods, such as farmlands and boats, have been destroyed by the conflict.

84.The insurrection of the Houthi militias has affected more than 70 per cent of small-scale fishers, who constitute the backbone of the fishing industry. By providing certain facilities, the Government had contributed to projects to revive livelihoods and build capacity among fishers who are also heads of household by finding ways to raise production rates. These projects include the following:

(a)The General Fisheries Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Fisheries have fully supported the project to revive livelihoods and build capacity among fishers who are also heads of household in the governorates of Aden and Hadramawt. At the same time, UNDP has used funding from the Government of Japan to distribute 500 financial grants worth $950 each; of these, 250 have been allocated to fishers in Aden and Mukalla to help local fishing communities realize their own projects. Those grants have already helped to fund a project to train 1,000 people in the repair of fishing equipment such as boats, marine engines and fishing nets, as well as to build skills to help people improve and maintain their livelihoods;

(b)A project worth $36 million to rehabilitate small-scale farmers and to restore and improve agricultural production in seven food-insecure governorates. Around 47,300 beneficiaries have received support, in the form of seeds and poultry, to help resume agricultural production.

More generally, please provide information on the impact of the measures taken to counter the loss of employment and livelihoods due to the conflict. Please specify those measures that specifically target young people.

85.The Government of Yemen has worked closely with the World Bank Group to provide all necessary facilities – via local authorities at the governorate level – to ensure the success of the $640 million emergency crisis response project. The emergency crisis response project in Yemen has shown its ability to provide an effective response to help overcome economic and human development challenges during the conflict, using a wide range of measures to address the numerous needs and vulnerabilities of 1.9 million individuals. The project’s basic components include public works programmes, fundamental services, youth employment, local-level development, community infrastructure, small and microenterprise development and social assistance in the form of cash transfers. The project addresses many needs and priorities, including food security, rationalization of consumption, insurance against shocks, preservation of human capital and labour market revitalization. It uses a partnership model that brings together technical expertise, institutional involvement and the resources and capacities of the World Bank alongside various other stakeholders including specialized United Nations agencies, strong national institutions, effective private sector actors and local communities. This form of partnership model has demonstrated its effectiveness in delivering a development response to conflict-related challenges.

Right to just and favourable conditions of work (art. 7)

Please inform the Committee how the salaries and arrears in the civil administration, including for civil servants in areas that are not under the effective control of the Government due to the conflict, are settled so as to ensure their right to just and favourable conditions of work and the delivery of public services

86.According to data provided by the Ministry of the Civil Service and Insurance, a total of 1.25 million persons were employed in government service in 2014, distributed between the administrative sector (38 per cent), the security and military sector (52 per cent) and independent economic units (8 per cent). At the same time, 87.6 per cent of all workers in the civil sector – i.e., 472,000 workers – work in education and health care at the local level while 12.4 per cent work at the central level.

87.The legitimate Government has, since 2017, been regularly paying the salaries of civil servants located in the areas it controls. An estimated 223,053 civil servants in government-run areas are paid in this way, accounting for 47 per cent of all civil servants in the State’s administrative apparatus.

88.The remaining 254,600 civil servants, located in the areas controlled by the Houthi militias, are not paid regularly although, from time to time, they receive a half salary. The militias use tax revenues as part of their war effort and as a way of applying pressure to civil servants to go to the front and join the combat.

89.The Houthi militias refuse to use the civil service pay scales of 2014, which they wish to replace with new scales developed by members of their own group.

Please indicate the measures the State party has taken to address non-payment of salaries and of severance pay or unfair dismissal by private companies and provide examples thereof. Please inform the Committee whether the State party has adopted a national minimum wage and whether it has taken steps to protect the labour rights of those working in the informal economy

90.Through the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Government has opened labour offices in the governorates as a way of ensuring protection for workers’ rights under the law. The labour offices receive complaints from workers who have been unfairly dismissed by private companies. The Labour Code includes provision for the formation of a committee, called the labour arbitration committee, which brings together representatives of workers, employers and government to examine labour-related disputes.

91.Article 131 of the Code stipulates that, by decree of the Minister, one or more arbitration committees are to be formed in the capital and in the governorates to rule on labour-related disputes. They are to be composed as follows:

(a)A representative of the Ministry, as Chair;

(b)A representative of the employers, to be appointed by the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, as a member;

(c)A representative of the workers, to be appointed by the General Trade Union Federation, as a member (employers’ and workers’ representatives must have sufficient experience in labour affairs).

92.Under article 132, the arbitration committees are to consider the following:

(a)Disputes and disagreements arising between employers and workers in connection with the application of the Code, its concomitant rules and regulations, or employment contracts;

(b)Violations referred to the committee related to the inspection of places of work;

(c)Other matters which, according to relevant laws, fall under the jurisdiction of the arbitration committees.

93.Article 133 states that arbitration committees have the authority to summon any person for questioning, to hear the testimony of witnesses after they have taken the legal oath and to conduct inquiries. This includes the right to enter any place of work that might have a bearing on the dispute. The committee, moreover, can delegate one of its members to undertake this task or call upon the assistance of experts, and it has the right to examine any documents or data that it considers necessary.

The following table shows the number of labour disputes considered by arbitration committees in all labour offices during the period between 2018 and 2022

Year	Settled	Referred to arbitration committees	Total number of labour disputes
2018	98	171	269
2019	40	143	183
2021	194	65	259
2022 (first half)	85	25	110

Source : Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour .

Trade union rights (art. 8)

Please provide an update on progress made towards amending the Labour Code to protect workers’ organizations against acts of interference by employers and to allow for the establishment of autonomous trade unions and their federations

94.The current Labour Code (Act No. 5 of 1995), as amended, provides full protection for trade unions to engage in their activities freely and without interference. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour undertakes to provide the administrative support envisaged under the Code such as the renewal of operating licences, and it coordinates its activity with other competent bodies and international organizations.

95.Due to the ongoing war and the inability of the legislature to exercise its functions regularly, the Government has been unable to complete the procedures necessary for the approval of the draft amendments. However, the Government persists in its intention to amend the Labour Code in order to bring it into line with the international labour conventions it has ratified.

Right to social security (art. 9)

96.The intensification of the crisis in Yemen since 2015 has led to the suspension of the Social Welfare Fund, which is one of the institutions that make up the social safety net, and this has left the highly vulnerable beneficiaries of the Fund without any support. The rise in the price of basic foodstuffs and other basic non-food commodities, the loss of assets and livelihoods, and displacement have all exacerbated the situation. Acting at the request of the Government of Yemen, the World Bank has approved the financing of an emergency cash transfer project as part of the emergency crisis response project. The scheme, which aims to provide an emergency safety net for beneficiaries of the Social Welfare Fund, is being administered by UNICEF via the Project Management Unit (PMU) with funding and technical assistance from the World Bank and the International Development Association (IDA), and with co-financing from the United States Department of State (Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs). In fact, the Department for International Development (DFID) contributed first by establishing a multi-donor trust fund with the World Bank and later through parallel financing. The emergency cash transfer project was launched for the purpose of extending social protection to the poorest 30 per cent of the population following the breakdown of the national system, while retaining key features such as targeting criteria, coverage and the amount of benefit, so as to enable a smooth transition to a governmental social protection system after the war. UNICEF was chosen to run the project and, since then, cash transfers have been made to more than 1.42 million households over more than ten payment cycles, despite the ongoing conflict and the volatile environment. UNICEF has also introduced several improvements and risk mitigation measures to enable cash delivery in a high-risk environment. Steps taken include the transfer of cash through private financial institutions, a beneficiary verification process and a system for handling complaints. Evidence has shown that this is the fastest and most effective way to protect households from the food insecurity caused by conflict, COVID-19 and other crises.

Protection of the family and children (art. 10)

Please provide information, including annual statistical data, disaggregated by sex and age group, on the extent of child labour and any other forms of economic and social exploitation of children, including forced and early marriage, in the State party, and on the impact of strategies and programmes to address them

(a)Yemen joined the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2000, since when it has made steady progress in combating child labour, in cooperation with ILO. The implementation of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour involves a series of interventions with key institutions, including ministries as well as employers’ and workers’ organizations. The interventions include a wide range of initiatives in the areas of capacity-building, strengthening and coordinating partnerships, improving and applying policies and legislation, building and utilizing a database on child labour and increasing social awareness and dialogue.

(b)In 2010, the Yemen Central Bureau of Statistics cooperated with the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, the Social Fund for Development and UNICEF to conduct the first national survey on child labour in Yemen. The results of the survey were published in January 2013.

(c)Ministerial Decree No. 11 of 2013, identifying the work that children under 18 can perform and that which is prohibited, was issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and circulated to all sectors of the labour market who were enjoined to abide by its provisions.

(d)There is coordination with ILO to update the national action plan to reduce child labour, and programmes have been rolled out for the rehabilitation and reintegration of children involved in the worst forms of child labour.

(e)The three parties involved in labour relations – the Ministry, workers and employers – coordinate with one another and with other stakeholders on consultations concerning the formation of a national steering committee to prepare a national child protection strategy.

(f)A project is being developed to expand social protection, its purpose being to provide the technical support required to reform social security in Yemen and to renew the national decent work programme. The project, which focuses on providing technical support to assist the country as it moves to a social market economy, will constitute a transitional period that prepares the way for strengthened social protection in Yemen, with funding from the European Union over coming years. It will also serve to build the capacity of the Government and its social partners in the planning, administration and extension of social protection to non-beneficiary groups, including persons working in the informal sector.

Please provide information on concrete measures taken by the State party to prevent the further recruitment of children into armed forces and armed groups in view of the failure of efforts undertaken hitherto (awareness-raising activities, training courses for task forces, and the implementation of the 2014 action plan for the protection of children in armed conflicts) to protect children therefrom. Please also provide information on concrete measures taken to secure the immediate release of children currently enrolled in the armed forces of any party involved in the conflict, and to provide recovery and reintegration services to former child soldiers. In particular, please provide information, including statistical data, on former child soldiers who have benefited from psychological, medical and social support

97.In the 2021 report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/76/871–S/2022/493), the name of the governmental forces in Yemen, including the Yemen armed forces, has been removed from the “B” list concerning the recruitment of children and their use in armed conflict. This is thanks to the progress that has been made by the Government of Yemen via the 2014 action plan and the 2018 road map, signed by the Government and the United Nations, and the significant decrease in the number of cases attributed to government forces.

98.Work with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict has continued with a view to developing institutional measures to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers. Since the action plan was signed in 2014, the following steps have been taken:

Under Council of Ministers Decree No. 212 of 2012, the Government approved the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles). Subsequently, in 2014, the Government and the United Nations signed a joint action plan to end the recruitment and use of children by governmental forces;

Following the events of 2018, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to the agreement reached in 2014, and issued Decree No. 91 of 2018 regarding the formation of the Joint Technical Committee on the Prevention of Child Recruitment, with elements drawn from all competent governmental bodies. The purpose of this initiative is to review and implement the joint action plan to end child recruitment in the light of the new situation, integrate activities for the protection of children’s rights in Yemen and tackle the phenomenon from its roots while taking account of its national cultural dimensions and addressing its causes.

99.As mandated by the Council of Ministers, the Joint Technical Committee resumed operations and, working with a team from the United Nations, prepared a road map. This was submitted to the Council of Ministers which then issued its Decree No. 109 of 2018 in which it approved the updated road map for the 2014 action plan signed between the Government of Yemen and the United Nations to end the recruitment and use of children by the Yemeni armed forces. Under the Decree:

The Minister of Human Rights and the Chief of Staff are to sign the road map;

The Ministers concerned are each to take the measures necessary for the implementation of the road map;

The Minister of Human Rights is to monitor the implementation and to report the outcomes to the Prime Minister.

100.The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces issued Order No. 12 of 2020 which includes military directives addressed to the Minister of Defence for him to order all military units and sectors to implement the road map and prevent the recruitment of children under the legal age of 18. The Order also envisages the creation of a special child protection unit in the armed forces and the security services, the referral of all violations to the military courts and measures to protect persons who report cases of child recruitment.

Please inform the Committee about investigations carried out into reports of sexual harassment and rape, including of young boys, among displaced communities and on the outcome thereof. Please indicate what steps have been taken to encourage reporting of sexual violence and to ensure the effective prosecution of perpetrators

101.The unit responsible for administering displaced persons’ camps has developed strict operational rules to monitor cases of harassment against girls. The camps are placed under security and administrative surveillance in accordance with the standards and principles of humanitarian work and a complaints box has been created via which to report any case of violence against girls.

102.The Ministry of Social Affairs and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) held a workshop on the referral system for reporting cases of violence and for the provision psychological support services in such cases. With funding from UNICEF, the Ministry of Social Affairs oversees the case management system through its offices in the governorates.

Please indicate the measures taken to ensure that all children, including those in parts of the territory not under the control of the Government, are registered at birth and receive a birth certificate free of charge, thus ensuring the universality of birth registration

103.Eager to safeguard the continued the issuance of birth certificates and to maintain the unity of the birth registration system, the Government has worked in cooperation with UNICEF and the Personal Status Bureau on a project to guarantee the right of children to obtain birth certificates. Between 2019 and 2021, campaigns were run in several governorates to raise community awareness about the importance of birth registration, in coordination with the education and health sectors, the aim being to increase the number of children in possession of birth certificates. This initiative targeted the liberated governorates although there has been coordination with UNICEF to print and distribute documents in all governorates after – as a consequence of the war – a large number of newborn children were unable to obtain birth certificates, particularly in rural areas and among displaced communities.

Right to an adequate standard of living (art. 11)

Please inform the Committee about the measures in place to counter and regulate the rising prices of food and fuel to ensure that basic and essential goods, including foodstuffs and water, remain available and affordable to everyone, including the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Please also inform the Committee about measures taken to urgently rebuild damaged public and private food production, storage and distribution infrastructure and water and sanitation facilities. Please provide specific information regarding the measures adopted to combat mass malnutrition, hunger and starvation resulting from the conflict

104.In the light of a damage assessment and prioritization report, the Government of Yemen and the World Bank Group have identified the critical measures to be taken by the Government at various times in order to improve food security and combat the spread of malnutrition, hunger and famine in Yemen.

Short-term priorities (up to 1 year)

Supporting efforts to achieve peace and supporting the Government as it strives to restore and rebuild State institutions and improve services;

Supporting cross-cutting measures to reduce disaster risk in areas where Yemen is exposed to numerous vulnerabilities and where an early warning system is required to monitor risks and prevent or mitigate their impact on food security and nutrition;

Assisting small-scale farmers, livestock breeders and fishers who have been affected by the conflict to begin producing again, via a support package to restore agriculture and fishing activities with a focus on key inputs, income generation and livelihood assistance;

Expanding cash-for-work programmes with a view to restoring community infrastructure;

Repairing electricity networks so as to activate irrigation systems;

Re-establishing markets for agricultural inputs and outputs and improving the delivery of agricultural services, also by rebuilding local enterprises that produce raw materials for that sector, resuming international trade in agricultural commodities, reopening export facilities and providing investment support to agricultural producers to help restore and enhance agricultural production; this includes investment in irrigation and water supply infrastructure in local communities.

Medium-term priorities (between 2 and 5 years)

Developing a new vision to enable the sector to realize its full potential and contribute to sustainable growth. Strategies in that connection should: (i) address water scarcity given the region’s vulnerability to climate change; (ii) define policies wherewith to develop value chains and create long-term job opportunities in the sector; (iii) reform operational models and support services in the agricultural sector so as to improve productivity and enhance food security;

Facilitating access to funding for farmers and for small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises;

Restoring critical infrastructure, including irrigation systems and grain and feed storage facilities.

Long-term priorities (between 5 and 10 years)

Investing in modern technologies to increase shock resilience among families;

Designing financing mechanisms and tools to favour private sector involvement;

Developing a coordinated rural investment mechanism that brings together energy, communications and roads infrastructure;

Although immediate attention to rebuilding agricultural market infrastructure may enable Yemen to increase domestic production levels, in the longer term it will be necessary to re-evaluate agricultural policies and water strategies. In the light of the country’s agricultural potential, long-term reconstruction efforts should include improving the management of water, managing sustainable crop production and introducing modern water-saving irrigation technologies.

Please provide information on the extent of damage to civilian habitation and land for agricultural production since the beginning of the conflict, and on measures adopted to provide accommodation and/or compensation to those whose land and housing have been destroyed by air strikes or through the placement of landmines

Type of violation	Full	Partial	Detonated	Total
Housing facilities	354	5 049	776	6 179
Water tanks and wells	76	191	50	237
Agricultural land	50	80	28	158
Total	480	5 320	854	6 574

105.The question of compensation was raised earlier in the reply to the Committee’s query about information on steps taken to monitor, investigate and hold accountable those responsible for violations and to provide effective remedies, including reparations, for victims. See paragraph 30 of the present document.

Please provide information on the impact of measures taken to provide internally displaced persons with a livelihood, housing and access to education. Please inform the Committee about measures taken to facilitate their safe and sustainable voluntary return to their home communities and the provision of durable solutions enabling them to enjoy the Covenant rights, especially with regard to housing, employment, health care and education

106.The Government of Yemen is acutely aware of the importance of providing care for internally displaced persons. Thus, from the outset it took the following key measures to ensure that they were fully protected:

(a)It established a specialized institutional body – an operational unit for internally displaced persons – to deal with the question of displacement and to attend to the welfare of displaced persons;

(b)It adopted a national displacement policy that acts as a general framework within which to address displacement-related issues and to care for displaced persons at various stages of their trajectory. Through this policy, the Government has recognized the rights of displaced persons as well as its own responsibility to protect them. In implementation of that policy, the operational unit has undertaken the following actions:

(i)Livelihoods of displaced persons

107.The operational unit has communicated to its humanitarian partners the importance of supporting income-generating livelihood projects rather than focusing on emergency humanitarian assistance (shifting from the emergency plan to early recovery) as a way of promoting stability for displaced persons, preserving their dignity and ensuring their transformation into economically productive elements of society. In that connection, the unit has:

(a)Reached agreement with the Task Force on Humanitarian Affairs led by the Humanitarian Coordinator to include livelihood projects in the humanitarian response plan for 2023;

(b)Provided livelihood projects for 2,326 families during the first half of 2022.

(ii)Housing for displaced persons

(a)The Government has sought to make shelters of various kinds available to internally displaced families. It has drawn humanitarian partners’ attention to the need for shelters and has monitored their interventions so as to ensure that the shelters provided serve to protect displaced persons and to preserve their privacy. In that connection, 84,304 displaced families in the camps were provided with shelters in the course of 2022;

(b)There has been a shift from emergency shelters to transitional shelters, which are more suitable for internally displaced persons and better protect their privacy;

(c)The Government has provided safe and suitable land on which to build camps; 646 sites have been made available of which 214 are held legally.

(iii)Education

(a)Thanks to coordination between the operational unit for internally displaced persons and the Ministry of Education, the Government has found places for 406,755 internally displaced students in State-run schools;

(b)Facilities have been rolled out for students who lost their documents during displacement, and the required academic documentation has been issued;

(c)Sixty-seven temporary schools have been set up inside camps where there are no schools nearby.

(iv)Durable solutions to displacement

108.The Government is seeking durable solutions for internally displaced persons. These include returning voluntarily, continuing to live in areas of displacement or resettling in other areas where services and security are available. However, in view of the fact that the war has not ended, durable solutions, including the return of displaced persons, are difficult to find, and a peace agreement must be reached before beginning to plan permanent solutions. In the course of earlier truces, the operational unit held meetings with humanitarian partners to search for mechanisms wherewith to apply such solutions, and particularly if a definitive agreement to end the war could be reached. Despite improvements during truce periods, this process currently faces many challenges, notably the absence of demining in liberated areas and the lack of livelihoods, education, health and other services, which makes it difficult for displaced persons to go back to their areas of origin.

Please provide further information on mechanisms in place to ensure land and property restitution or compensation to internally displaced persons

Land and property

109.The Government is working to plan durable solutions and has developed a template of tasks and duties for the various authorities involved, the purpose being to ensure that displaced persons are able to regain their rights and recover their property. This is part of a national policy to tackle internal displacement in Yemen, in which the Government has recognized the right of displaced persons to reclaim their rights and obtain justice. The following steps will be taken:

The Government will work with the competent authorities – the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights and the National Commission of Inquiry into alleged human rights violations – to come up with a unified working mechanism for registering the land and property lost by displaced persons;

The operational unit will coordinate with the competent authorities – the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, the judiciary, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Local Administration – to discuss a mechanism for the restitution of property, to ensure that displaced persons can exercise their right to remedy when they return and to consider the requirements for the operation of such a mechanism, including the role of law enforcement institutions;

At this point, reference should be made to the violations that the Houthi militias have committed and continue to commit by displacing Yemeni citizens and seizing their lands.

110.On 12 September 2022, the Houthi militias raided a number of villages in the areas under their control. The villages concerned were Qa’abel, Ma’arif, Mashayikh, Khudariah, Bani al-Sahl and Bani al-Sabahi, all located in the Al-Qasrah area of the Bayt al-Faqih district of the governorate of Hudaydah. Using more than 30 military vehicles and 8 bulldozers, the militias stormed dozens of homes, fired randomly at citizens and arrested around 70 people. The authorities were able to discover the names of 15 of the abducted persons, most of them local notables: Muhammad Bakhit Mushaikhi, Abdullah Abdullah Yahya Sabahi, Abdo Tammam Mushaikhi, Hassan Dabal Mushaikhi, Abdo Fatini Maarouf, Hassan Maafa Maarouf, Bader Abdullah Yahya Sabahi, Fahd Ahmed Fatini Qaibel, Muhammad bin Muhammad Mushaikhi, Aseel Ayyash Ahmed Mushaikhi, Ismail Muhammad Hassan Mushaikhi, Muhammad Abdo Tammam Mushaikhi, Ali Tammam Mushaikhi, Hamoud Ali Tammam Mushaikhi and Mustafa Abdullah Yahya Tammam. The abducted persons – who also included a number of children – were placed by the Houthi militias in facilities adjacent to the Taqwa Mosque in Bayt al-Faqih in the governorate of Hudaydah, which the militias had turned into a prison. The abductions took place as part of wide campaign to seize and loot an estimated 10 km2 of lands, farms, waterways and pastures which belong to citizens in the region and from which more than 5,000 citizens have been benefiting for hundreds of years. The Houthi militias seized these areas, turned them into a military zone and prevented people from approaching them. Moreover, the militias’ military campaign against the Al-Qasrah area, during which they burned down scores of homes and forcibly displaced their owners, has caused a wave of displacement and driven dozens of families into areas controlled by the legitimate Government.

In this regard, please provide information on progress achieved in the implementation of the recommendations from the National Dialogue Conference with regard to restitution, including the return of seized land, the restoration of confiscated property and compensation

111.As part of the Government’s efforts to give effect to the recommendations of the National Dialogue Conference and, in response to the demands of the Southern Movement, to resolve the issue of the south, the President of the Republic issued Decree No. 253 of 2013 to establish a compensation fund for owners whose land has been seized and for functionaries who have been dismissed from civilian, security or military posts, in the southern governorates since July 1994.

112.Under article 4 of the Decree, the purpose of the fund is to compensate owners of seized land and functionaries dismissed from civilian, security or military posts in the southern governorates, who are eligible for compensation. This process is to take place according to the dictates and decisions of two committees, one to consider and address issues related to lands and the other to consider and address the position of functionaries dismissed from civilian, security or military posts. The two committees were formed under Presidential Decree No. 2 of 2013, which enjoined the adoption of any recommendations they made. The committee formed to consider issues related to lands in the southern governorates recommended that compensatory lands should be allocated to 11,157 civilians and military personnel from the southern governorates whose lands had been seized in the wake of the summer war of 1994. In 360 cases, the lands restored were larger than the area of the original dwelling. The committee noted 221,000 recorded cases of looting of land from southern residents. Currently, the activities of the fund and the committee have been suspended due to the state of war. The Government will assess the current situation of the conflict and seek to accommodate new variables within the framework of a national strategy of transitional justice.

Right to physical and mental health (art. 12)

Please inform the Committee about the number and location of health-care facilities that are still being used for military purposes by any party to the conflict and the number of military targets placed close to health-care facilities

113.The Houthi militias have committed violations affecting the health sector. The most significant and verifiable indicators for the period between 2015 and 2021 are given in the table below.

Type of violation	No.
Occupation of health-care facilities	31
Closure of health-care facilities	57
Total or partial destruction	65
Near a military installation in areas outside government control	12

Please provide information on the impact of the measures taken to ensure the provision of services to respond to critical health-care issues such as outbreaks of communicable diseases and increasing maternal and newborn mortality

Please provide further information on the measures taken and any plans formulated to restore the facilities and overall capacity of the public health system damaged by the conflict, including in terms of investment in human and financial resources

114.The war and the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened the health-care situation while also increasing health-related needs and negatively impacting the availability and accessibility of essential life-saving services. In 2020, according to the system used to monitor the availability of health-care resources and services, 49 per cent of health-care facilities were either non-operational or only partially operational, and even fully operational facilities were struggling to provide health services due to a lack of staff, insufficient supplies and equipment, inability to cover operational costs and power cuts due to lack of fuel. In fact, information indicates that between 91 and 93 per cent of facilities lack standard medical equipment and that which is available is out of date. Between 49 and 51 per cent of reproductive health-care facilities, centres and units are either partially or fully out of action, and it is estimated that 11 per cent of health facilities are partially damaged or destroyed and in need of repair. In addition, 117 of the 333 districts in Yemen – i.e., 35.1 per cent – do not have working hospitals, meaning that there is no way of accessing secondary health care.

115.Despite the importance of meeting urgent humanitarian health-related requirements, the Government is nonetheless seeking to move away from humanitarian interventions towards meeting medium- and long-term development needs. A sustained promotion of the health-care system is of critical importance for the recovery of the health sector. It is also important to find ways to move forwards in the short and medium term, shifting to a new model of donor intervention and participation in the building of peace and stability in Yemen, so as to achieve the third of the Sustainable Development Goals.

116.The key priorities for maternal and child health are to transform health-care facilities so that they can deliver maternal and child health-care services, to train midwives to assist in childbirth, to promote breastfeeding and sound maternal practices, to provide basic neonatal care and to foster community-based management of maternal and newborn care, which is particularly important in remote areas.

Please explain to what extent the services provided by the public health system have been adapted to and are able to meet the needs arising from the conflict, particularly with regard to injuries and mental health

117.The Government is seeking to address one of the main challenges behind the acute shortage of health-care staff by paying salaries on a regular basis.

118.Capacity-building has been offered to local institutions and health staff to help them address the ongoing challenges associated with the delivery of health-care services. At the same time, a package of basic services has been made available at all possible levels, including mobile clinics, fixed primary health-care centres and facilities, and comprehensive health coverage. Public health interventions have been reinforced, such as infectious disease prevention and control, immunization against preventable childhood diseases and emergency reproductive, maternal and child health care. Early warning systems have been strengthened and expanded in preparation to meet fresh outbreaks and rapid response systems have been put in place. Changes in the demographic and epidemiological characteristics of the Yemeni population have been identified in order to meet their specific needs more effectively. Public and private mental health-care service centres have been evaluated as part of preparations for a national mental health strategy, while mental health services have been expanded in areas affected by armed clashes.

In particular, please provide detailed information on the methods and tools used to assess casualties and deaths directly or indirectly related to the conflict, including victims of landmines and other unexploded devices

119.The Yemeni Red Crescent and government medical teams belonging to the armed forces cooperate with one another in this regard. Immediately after an incident takes place, medical teams intervene to succour the victims and the hospital receives a communication from the competent authorities describing the nature of the incident. The names of those affected are recorded, pictures are taken and an initial report is drawn up. The competent security agencies then draw up an official record of the incident, attaching the medical report with pictures of the victims if there have been any fatalities. Subsequently, injured persons can be referred for treatment abroad while minor injuries are dealt with locally.

Please also provide information and statistical data on assistance, including medical care, afforded to victims

120.The Government refers cases involving civilian victims to the Authority for the Care of the Families of Martyrs and Combatants of the Yemeni Revolution, a government body supervised by the Office of the President of the Republic that provides an income for families of the fallen. At the same time, acting under a circular issued by the Ministry of Public Health and Population in 2017, the Government gives emergency assistance to wounded Yemeni victims from frontline areas, without exception. It does so by providing medical care according to the needs of each particular case, with serious cases being sent for treatment abroad at government expense. Other cases are taken care of by the States of the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen. In 2021 the Government sent dozens of such cases to countries like Egypt, India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, etc.

121.Between 2015 and 2022, the Government brought in medical missions, which treated many cases in Yemeni hospitals.

122.The Government has been working to set up and equip centres for the production of artificial limbs. The King Salman Centre has set up its own artificial limb centre, which provides its services to all injured Yemenis, without discrimination.

Please inform the Committee about the measures in place to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, the tools and methods used to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19, and the services rendered to patients and affected communities. Please explain how the provision of personal protective equipment for health personnel and the adequate capacity of health facilities are ensured so that patients are not turned away or refused treatment

The Prime Minister issued a decree for the formation of an emergency committee himself to confront the coronavirus pandemic, to be headed by the Prime Minister;

The committee issued a number of directives on matters such as the period for which ports and markets were to remain closed; it also produced a guide with instructions for all government departments;

The committee issued a directive regulating entry and exit via border crossing points;

The Government designated isolation centres in the governorates and produced a guide on how they should operate;

The Government undertook the restructuring and maintenance of more than 60 public hospitals and health centres so that they could take in persons affected with the disease;

With support from partners and the Social Fund, the Ministry of Health provided coronavirus training to health-care staff in all the governorates;

The Government provided vaccinations against coronaviruses, in which regard it designated priority groups among the population, including travellers.

Please explain how the State party intends to uphold the commitment it made in 2019 at the Nairobi Summit on the International Conference on Population and Development to provide protection and reproductive health services for women and girls affected by the conflict and to mobilize and invest the necessary resources to that end

123.The key priorities for maternal and child health are to transform health-care facilities so that they can deliver maternal and child health-care services, to train midwives to assist in childbirth, to promote breastfeeding and sound maternal practices, to provide basic neonatal care and to foster community-based management of maternal and newborn care, which is particularly important in remote areas.

Please describe the measures adopted to prevent profiteering on hygiene products and essential medicines and supplies during the conflict. Please comment on the extent to which such measures have been effective in keeping these products available and affordable for all, including in parts of the territory not under the control of the Government. Please provide concrete information on methods used to identify abuses in this regard and to sanction them

124.The Government is seeking to restore State institutions and to reactivate the work of regulatory agencies with a view to preventing corruption and profiteering from humanitarian work, including on medicines. One of the measures the Government has taken has been to launch the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection, which has branch offices in the governorates. Under the law, the Committee is empowered to undertake field visits, monitor prices, refer any violations it discovers to the Office of the Public Prosecution and order the closure of facilities responsible for infractions. The Committee has also opened a 24-hour phoneline for receiving complaints.

Right to education (arts. 13–14)

Please provide information on the impact of the measures taken to ensure the effective exercise of the right to education, including for girls, and to counter the rising trend of school dropout since the beginning of the conflict, particularly as a result of the recruitment of children into the armed forces, of children joining the informal labour market and of girls entering into child marriages

125.As concerns the effective exercise of the right to education, the Ministry of Education has made basic, secondary and university education available free of charge, with basic education being compulsory. To the extent possible, it has provided public education in all areas of the country, including university-level and vocational education. The Ministry has also opened schools for girls and remedial classes for children who have dropped out of or never been to school, as well as literacy centres for adult education. It was the Ministry’s cherished ambition to attain the fourth of the Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all; however, the war launched by the Houthi militias against the Yemeni people prevented the Ministry from achieving its aspiration and augmented the challenges of delivering educational services. In fact, the war has completely or partially destroyed numerous schools and teaching facilities, while other schools remain occupied and others are on the frontline. The war has also negatively affected the State budget, meaning that no classrooms have been built since 2014, whereas previously the State had been building 7,000 classrooms a year. Since the building plan has now been stalled for 8 years, there is a shortfall of 7,000 x 8, or 57,000 classrooms, and this is in addition to the challenges of renovating schools and educational facilities.

126.To order to prevent children from dropping out of school, the Ministry of Education has provided free education and introduced an exemption from the requirement to wear school uniforms. In cooperation with partners it has, to the extent possible, provided school satchels for students and, in coordination with WFP, supplied school meals. However, these initiatives remain limited to just a few areas. The school meals initiative has contracted over the recent period and, as a consequence of growing poverty and the serious economic decline, many students have been forced onto the labour market in order to obtain food.

127.As concerns education for girls, the Ministry of Education has been cooperating with partners to open girls’ schools. It has launched livelihood programmes, but only in a very small number of schools, and it has supported education for girls in rural areas by making conditional cash transfers and providing food baskets for girls. In addition, the Ministry has trained female high school and university graduates to work as teachers in rural areas. However, as a consequence of the war, all such initiatives have now ceased, and the country is looking for generous support in order to continue its activities – i.e., opening schools for girls, launching livelihood programmes in girls’ secondary schools, supporting education for girls in rural areas with conditional cash transfers and providing food baskets for girls – because they have an important impact on girl’s education.

128.With regard to livelihoods, the literacy department of the Ministry of Education has, due to the lack of resources, opened only a small number of livelihood centres for sewing and weaving for vulnerable families. Initiatives like this are very few in number and by no means enough to meet needs. The State is hoping to find funding for such projects in order to enable it to meet its commitments. Other programmes operate outside the education system, such as a livelihood and food security support programme called “Rural Resilience 2”, which is being rolled out over three years with funding from the European Union and the Swedish International Development Agency. The programme is being run by UNDP in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ILO and WFP.

129.Partners are CARE International, INJAZ, the For All Foundation, Oxfam, the Millennium Development Foundation, Search for Common Ground, the Social Fund for Development, the Sustainable Development Foundation and the Youth Leadership Development Foundation.

Please describe the plans in place to ensure the continuity of education and access when schools are damaged or closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please provide further information on the measures taken to ensure the safety of students, teachers and educational staff, access to schools and educational facilities

130.The Ministry of Education put a number of precautionary distancing measures in place and distributed official working hours over three periods.

131.The Ministry also delivered a small number of lessons via the Education Channel and online platforms and provided self-learning opportunities but, due to the scarcity or total lack of resources, this has remained an incomplete and very limited initiative.

132.Cooperating with its partners, the Ministry of Education was able to supply protective equipment such as sterilizers, masks and gloves. It also conducted awareness raising campaigns via the media about coronavirus and produced two guides, one entitled “Precautionary measures against novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, and the other “Safe return to school”. Furthermore, in cooperation with the Islamic Bank and the Social Fund for Development, it developed a plan to train teachers, administrators and other school staff, although its implementation is still under review.

Please inform the Committee about the number and location of health-care facilities and schools that are still being used for military purposes by any party to the conflict and of military targets placed close to educational facilities

133.The Government is striving to bring the literacy branch of the Ministry of Education back into operation. In that connection, it is making great efforts to open adult education centres, contracting teachers, launching livelihood programmes, expanding its initiatives and seeking funding for its activities from international partners and donors. In fact, the literacy branch stands in dire need of support to enable it to extend its activities and to open and operate literacy centres and livelihood centres in large areas of the country.

134.The Government’s chief short-term priorities in the field of education are: paying teachers’ salaries, encouraging parents to enrol their children in school and rebuilding partially damaged schools. In the medium and long term, the important focus will be on teacher training, particularly given the need to provide psychosocial support to children, renovate schools, reform the education system and rebuild damaged and destroyed educational facilities across the country. There is also a pressing need to improve the quality of education, nurture creativity which will help to improve job prospects for young people, adapt vocational choices to the job market and provide and support training youth programmes.

Cultural rights (art. 15)

Please provide concrete and detailed information on attacks on cultural sites that have occurred since the State party submitted its last report

135.The Government has been monitoring the indiscriminate attacks and acts of aggression carried out by the Houthi militias on cultural objects since the beginning of the war in Yemen. Some 100 incidents have been recorded against cities, archaeological sites, museums, castles, forts, dams and buildings, although the largest proportion has been against mosques and places of worship, which had reached 806 by September 2021, across all Yemeni governorates. Table 12 (attached) gives a detailed list of cultural objects that have been pillaged and destroyed by the Houthi militias and Al-Qaida.

List of cultural sites

136.The Government has a list of national cultural sites in Yemen, which has been circulated in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

137.The Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 38 in which it endorsed the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The Protocol envisages international protection for the recovery of antiquities that have been smuggled out of the country and promotes international cooperation to help Yemen recover its stolen heritage.

138.The Government has signed an agreement with the United States Department of State to circulate lists and photos of stolen antiquities to all countries of the world so as to ensure that those items cannot be bought or sold.

Public cultural institutions and objects
Public libraries	67
Manuscript libraries	6
Research and study centres	21
Cultural centres 28 National museums	22
Popular heritage museums	11
Institutes of fine arts	5
Houses of culture	8
Houses of visual arts	16
Open-air theatres	10
Public theatre spaces	28
Cinemas and picture houses	6
Total	209
Annual statistics 2014
Annual statistics 2014

Please inform the Committee about the steps taken by the State party to ensure the full realization of cultural rights by diverse sections of the population, including the steps necessary for the conservation, development and diffusion of culture and science

139.The State has paid particular attention to the cultural sector and has rolled out a number of relevant projects, such as the establishment and expansion of cultural centres, museums and public libraries, the publication of books and other printed materials and the organization of activities and events at the governorate level. The State has also acted to preserve historical cities, monuments and manuscripts; to restore and renovate castles, forts and palaces; to collect, document and protect the heritage of civilization represented in antiquities, manuscripts and archaeological sites; and to nurture traditional handicrafts and folk dress, which it considers to be a window onto the country’s culture and civilization. It has also supported cultural NGOs, encouraged innovation of all kinds and in all fields and promoted private-sector investment.

140.The Government has drafted a national cultural development strategy, which includes a number of primary and secondary objectives and priorities related to cultural heritage. The strategy aims to protect antiquities, expand cultural institutions and centres, encourage artistic creativity, promote the development of theatrical works, cultivate traditional handicrafts and folk dress and document tangible and intangible artistic heritage.

141.The Government is working via the international community to exert pressure on the Houthi terrorist militias and prevent them from spreading a culture of hatred and racism among the Yemeni people. Over recent years, in fact, the Houthis have sought to foment sectarianism. They have forced men, women and children to attend sectarian meetings, made access to humanitarian aid conditional upon such attendance and used schools and mosques to spread a culture of hatred. They have also issued discriminatory laws that run contrary to the Constitution, such as a zakat law which states that resources arising from payment of the zakat are to be disbursed to their own sect. Nor do the Houthis respect other religious groups in Yemen, such as Jews who have been displaced from their homes and forced from the country. Most recently, locations belonging to the Baha’i have been confiscated, its leaders arrested and the community prevented from practising its cultural activities.