Yemen and World Bank Discuss 2026-2030 Partnership Framework

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Yemen’s Planning Minister and the World Bank have discussed a new partnership framework to guide the bank’s engagement with the country over the coming years. Dr. Afrah al-Zouba, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, led a consultation session with the World Bank Group to discuss the new Country Partnership Framework for the period from 2026 to 2030, in an expanded meeting that brought together officials from across the government.

The session included ministers from various sectors, including health, agriculture and education, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Yemen. The breadth of participation reflected the wide-ranging nature of the framework and its relevance to multiple areas of the government’s work.

During the meeting, Dr. al-Zouba highlighted that the International Development Association had recently approved Yemen’s eligibility for the Remaining Engaged during Conflict Allocation, which will provide additional financing resources of up to 400 million dollars during the current replenishment cycle. She expressed the government’s hope that the new framework would align with its priorities.

The government’s priorities, as outlined by the minister, focus on economic recovery, the improvement of basic services and the enhancement of institutional governance. Aligning the partnership framework with these priorities is intended to ensure that the World Bank’s engagement supports the government’s own agenda and addresses the country’s most pressing needs.

A Country Partnership Framework sets out the strategy guiding an institution’s engagement with a country over a defined period. For the World Bank, such a framework shapes its assistance and priorities, and developing one in consultation with the government helps ensure that it reflects the country’s needs and aligns with national plans.

The World Bank has been engaged with Yemen through various forms of assistance during the conflict, working to support the country amid the challenges it faces. The development of a new framework for 2026 to 2030 reflects a continued commitment to engagement and an effort to structure that engagement in a way that supports recovery and development.

The approval of Yemen’s eligibility for the Remaining Engaged during Conflict Allocation is significant, as it provides for additional financing at a time of acute need. This mechanism, associated with the International Development Association, is designed to sustain engagement with countries affected by conflict, reflecting an approach that maintains support even amid the challenges such settings present.

The provision of up to 400 million dollars in additional financing represents a meaningful contribution to the resources available for Yemen. Such financing can support programmes across the sectors central to recovery and development, complementing other forms of assistance and helping to address the country’s extensive needs.

The International Development Association, part of the World Bank Group, focuses on assistance to the world’s poorest countries, providing financing on favourable terms. Its engagement with Yemen, including through the allocation for countries affected by conflict, reflects the importance of support for a country facing one of the world’s most severe crises.

The focus on economic recovery among the government’s priorities reflects the centrality of this goal to the country’s situation. Years of conflict have devastated the economy, and supporting its recovery is essential both to relieving hardship and to building the foundations for stability, making it a central concern for the government and its partners.

The emphasis on improving basic services addresses one of the most tangible concerns of citizens. Services such as health, water and education are among the most immediate measures of governance, and supporting their improvement is central to relieving hardship and to demonstrating the capacity of the state to serve the population.

Enhancing institutional governance, another priority, speaks to the broader effort to strengthen the machinery of the state. Effective institutions are essential to governance and to the delivery of services, and support for improving their functioning is important to the country’s recovery and to the effective use of the resources available.

The expanded and consultative nature of the session reflects an effort to develop the framework in a collaborative manner. Engaging a broad range of officials in the consultation helps ensure that the framework reflects the perspectives and priorities of different parts of the government, enhancing its relevance and the ownership of it across the administration.

The alignment of the World Bank’s framework with the government’s priorities will be important to the effectiveness of the engagement. Ensuring that the bank’s assistance supports the government’s agenda helps enhance the coherence of the response and reinforces the role of national leadership in directing the country’s development.

The multi-year horizon of the framework is itself significant, signalling an intention to plan beyond the immediate emergency toward a more structured phase of engagement. Much of the international response to Yemen has necessarily been shaped by the urgencies of relief, but a partnership framework stretching to 2030 reflects an effort to look ahead to recovery and reconstruction, and to lay the institutional groundwork for it. Whether that longer horizon can be realised will depend heavily on the trajectory of the conflict, but officials framed the exercise as an investment in preparedness, ensuring that plans and mechanisms are in place to channel support effectively should conditions allow for a shift from emergency assistance toward sustained development.

For now, the consultation session reflected the continued engagement of Yemen and the World Bank and the effort to develop a framework to guide their partnership through 2026 to 2030. As the country works to advance recovery and strengthen its institutions, the support of the World Bank, including through additional financing, remains an important element of its efforts.