ESCWA and SDRPY Share Visions for Yemen’s Recovery and Development

RIYADH / 23 December 2019 – A delegation from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) has visited the headquarters of the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) in Riyadh. United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Dr. Rola Dashti headed the delegation, accompanied by ESCWA Emerging and Conflict Related Issues Division Director Dr. Tariq Al-Alami and ESCWA Secretary-General Mr. Karim Khalil.

During the delegation’s meeting with SDRPY Supervisor-General Ambassador Mohammed bin Saeed Al Jabir, directors of departments and specialists of the program, the parties exchanged views on cooperation through the exchange of knowledge and experience, and shared their visions for how to achieve concrete results in recovery and institutional capacity-building that benefit development and humanitarian projects in the Yemeni governorates.

“Having stable development in Yemen is essential, and the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen is vital and has a noble goal to improve the daily lives of the Yemeni people and achieve stability in their country,” Dr. Dashti said in a statement. “We support SDRPY and its goal of achieving stable development. Here in ESCWA, we look forward to further cooperation with the program on projects to achieve peace, build human capacity and establish a comprehensive sustainable development vision for Yemen.”

“There is no doubt that ESCWA is an international organization concerned with the economic and social development of Arab countries, and Yemen is an integral part of that,” she added. “We are working to develop Yemen’s institutional capabilities and human capacity, and to plan for Yemen’s post-conflict recovery to bring about sustainable development and a comprehensive, lasting peace.”

She explained that ESCWA was engaged in providing experience, perceptions and counsel in the field of sustainable development, helping to enhance and develop human capacity for the Arab peoples, and transferring knowledge. She also indicated that ESCWA aimed for the prosperity of countries, and that there was a promising future for Arab youth.

The meeting between ESCWA and SDRPY is the second between the two parties. The first meeting, in October of 2019, occurred within the framework of the program to achieve stability, which is directly related to sustainable development.

SDRPY and ESCWA hold meetings to develop visions for economic, social and institutional recovery, in addition to stabilization and peacebuilding in Yemen, all for the purpose of serving the Yemeni people and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the Republic of Yemen. SDRPY and ESCWA also work on planning and coordination to unify development visions in Yemen and promote integration between development organizations working there, with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and broad-ranging process of development.