Yemen is a priority partner country of German Development Cooperation and a pilot country in the Program of Action adopted by the German Government to halve extreme poverty by 2015. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GTZ has implemented many different projects since 1969 in most of the country's governorates.

Yemen is classified as one of the least developed countries in the world and faces numerous development constraints: a high population growth of three percent, grave water shortage, an inefficient educational system, high illiteracy amongst women in particular and insufficient access to public health services. Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to economic and social development. Forty-two percent of the population lives below the poverty line and 18 percent in absolute poverty. The private sector is slow to develop and unemployment is high.

In response to these problems and after agreement between the German and Yemenite governments in the intergovernmental negotiations, GTZ activities are currently concentrated on the following priority areas:

• Water
• General Education

Apart from our priority areas, health, economic reform and aspects of Good Governance are important parts of our activities in Yemen. Moreover, transsectoral themes such as poverty reduction, conflict transformation and gender equality/gender issues are mainstreamed in the German Technical Cooperation projects – always with a view to poverty alleviation. Participation of the population, strengthening civil society and supporting decentralization are key challenges facing Development Cooperation.

GTZ has maintained an office in Sana’a since 1983. Since 2004, we are sharing an office building with the German development bank KfW (see photo).