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ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº Group has a longstanding commitment to supporting essential needs and basic services for people across Yemen, while helping build capacity and resilience for the future. Our programs have expanded access to education, health, clean water and energy, strengthened social protection and food security, and supported climate-resilient agriculture and rural roads to promote livelihoods and access. We also recognize that the private sector has a critical role to play in addressing the country¡¯s pressing development challenges and focus on efforts to harness its potential through innovative financing mechanisms and guarantee instruments and on creating a conducive investment climate.

The country¡¯s needs are increasingly critical given Yemen¡¯s ongoing conflict and dire economic and social conditions, with 17 million people ¨C half the population ¨C facing food insecurity, and 18 million people lacking access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Conflict, climate hazards, and declining aid compound the needs on the ground. With limited viable options to weather adverse shocks, a World Bank 2024 phone survey finds that households are resorting to detrimental coping mechanisms, such as withdrawing children from school (30 percent) or engaging in precarious, high-risk work (22 percent).

Since the war began in 2015, Yemen¡¯s real GDP per capita has plummeted by 58 percent, pushing most of the population into poverty and severely eroding human capital. The country has split into two distinct economic zones, each with its own institutions and competing monetary authorities, leading to widening disparities. Despite relative political stability following the UN-sponsored truce in 2022, economic contraction continued in 2023 and 2024.

The economic outlook for 2025 remains bleak. In areas controlled by the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG), the ongoing blockade on oil exports, coupled with the absence of a clear path to lasting peace, is expected to continue to be a strain on public finances and external accounts. Inflation is projected to remain elevated, driven by further currency depreciation in Aden. In areas controlled by the Houthi movement, acute liquidity shortages are expected to continue, with restrictions on cash withdrawals and limited access to funds stifling consumption and activity. Ongoing tensions in the Red Sea and reductions in donor and UN aid are expected to further compound pressures on the country¡¯s already fragile social and economic conditions.

Last Updated: Jul 25, 2025

The overarching goal of the World Bank Group (WBG)¡¯s Country Engagement Strategy for Yemen is to support the people of Yemen and preserve the institutions that serve them. The WBG stayed engaged in Yemen across multiple possible sectors, with a focus on: (i) service delivery and human capital; and (ii) food security, resilience, and livelihood opportunities.

ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº ¡ª through its concessional arm, the International Development Association (IDA) ¡ª has been providing largescale grants to Yemen during the conflict. Working in partnership with UN agencies, IDA has financed over US$3.9 billion in interventions since the Bank¡¯s reengagement in Yemen in 2016 by investing in people and the institutions they rely on for critical services.

The IDA portfolio comprises 9 active projects: (1) the Emergency Integrated Urban Services Project II, US$195.4 million; (2) the Emergency Electricity Access Project Phase II, US$100 million; (3) the , US$840 million; (4) the , US$250 million; (5) the , US$592 million; (6) the , US$50 million; and (7) the , US$45 million, (8) the , US$20 million; and (9) the , US$10 million.

IFC ¡ª a member of the World Bank Group ¡ª is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. IFC complements the World Bank¡¯s developmental efforts by mobilizing private capital, providing advisory services, and investing in businesses and projects that drive innovation, job creation, and inclusive growth.

In Yemen, IFC focuses on strategic sectors such as manufacturing, agribusiness, energy, health, and finance. New projects are being developed to enhance food security, expand access to essential services, create jobs, and strengthen the private sector¡¯s role in driving recovery and long-term development. IFC is also supporting efforts to address severe electricity shortages, a top priority in Yemen, by helping advance renewable energy solutions that are led by the private sector and by mobilizing private investment with a particular focus on domestic players and the Yemeni diaspora. These efforts aim to position the private sector as a key engine of growth in critical sectors.

IFC also supports local financial institutions with expanding financial inclusion, promoting digital transformation, and facilitating trade.

As of end of April 2025, IFC¡¯s investment commitments in Yemen total US$143 million, and our advisory portfolio of US$2.6 million.

Last Updated: Jul 25, 2025

World Bank financing through IDA has supported critical service delivery, helped develop and preserve human capital and built the capacity of local institutions.

The supports the provision of unconditional cash transfers (UCT), temporary employment, and increased access to basic services and economic opportunities to food insecure populations The project is being implemented by UNDP and UNICEF in partnership with the Ssocial Fund for Development and Public Works Project. To date, the project has reached 92,718 direct beneficiaries with wage employment; over 957,879 people have received access to community services such as potable water, irrigation, and better roads. Under the UCT component, the project has carried out nine payment cycles in all 333 districts across Yemen reaching an average of 1.43 million poor and vulnerable households.

The (EHCP), is implemented in partnership with UNICEF, WHO and UNOPS. By September 2024, 20 million beneficiaries have received health, nutrition, and population (HNP) services at 2,398 health facilities, 140 hospitals, and through outreach and mobile teams. Almost 1.4 million people are receiving access to improved water supply and sanitation services.

ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº has partnered with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and local institutions on the (YIUSEP) to provide 3 million Yemenis with restored access to critical urban services, including water and sanitation, transport, energy, and solid waste management.

The  ¡ª delivered in collaboration with UNDP, FAO, WFP, ICRC, and local institutions ¡ª has made substantial progress in enhancing food security and resilience by rehabilitating 4,000 hectares of agricultural land, improving water infrastructure for 3,600 households, upgrading 99 km of rural roads, and supporting 20,000 farmers through seed producer groups.

The US$100 million  ¡ª Phase 2 builds focuses on technical assistance designed to support access to electricity supply and prepare for post-conflict restoration of the Yemen power sector. To date the project has provided 60,000 households with access to electricity and more than 300 critical facilities with solar-powered electricity.

The (YELCP) provides climate-resilient connectivity and employment opportunities to food-insecure rural population of Yemen, in collaboration with UNOPS. The project rehabilitated 151km rural roads, providing 1.35 million Yemenis with climate resilient access to , employment opportunities, , and education.

IFC

Since 2021, IFC has invested $55 million and mobilized $20 million (with an additional $60 million committed) for Hayel Saeed Anam Group, one of the leading conglomerates in food in Yemen, to help them ramp up production and distribution of essential food supplies. This was in partnership with FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, who ¨C with IFC¡¯s help - was able to enter the Yemeni market for the first time. The financing package also included a partial guarantee from IDA's Private Sector Window to make the project more bankable to investors who would not otherwise have entered the market.

In 2025, IFC also invested $8 million in Islamic financing to Al-Mawarid International Company for Educational and Health Services, a leading provider of education and healthcare in Yemen. Operating under the University of Science and Technology (UST) brand, Al-Mawarid International runs four campuses in Aden. The financing will help Al-Mawarid International build a new hospital next to its headquarters. Through this project Al-Mawarid International will initially open a 60-bed teaching hospital, with plans to expand to 250 beds within two years, with potential additional support from IFC. Partially powered by a new solar energy installation, the hospital is expected to serve over 160,000 patients annually, improving healthcare access, addressing infrastructure gaps, and reducing travel and wait times for treatment. It will also create 850 direct and indirect jobs, provide high-quality education to medical students, and boost the supply of skilled healthcare professionals in Yemen.

In addition, in 2021, IFC signed a trade finance facility with Al Kuraimi Islamic Bank, marking the first expansion of the (GTFP), IFC's flagship trade finance program, into Yemen. This aims to support Al Kuraimi Islamic Bank with its efforts to increase access to finance for Yemeni businesses and to develop its trade financing operations to allow for trade flows of critical goods into the country. The trade finance guarantee facility is part of IFC's broader efforts to support Yemen's private sector. By providing risk mitigation in challenging markets where trade lines may be constrained, GTFP extends and complements the capacity of banks to deliver trade financing and expand their network of corresponding banks globally.

Last Updated: Jul 25, 2025