Yemen

Recent activities

Last up-date 11.05.10

Transparency Coalition and Extractive Industries Watch (TCEIW) is the PWYP-affiliated national coalition in Yemen which unites the efforts of CSOs, experts, academics, law and media professionals and other activists. The Coalition was founded in October 2009 by nine Yemeni CSOs – Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC), Yemen Observatory for Human Rights, Yemeni Parliamentarians Against Corruption, Future Movement, Alamal Center for Transparency and Labor Issues, Felix Foundation for Petroleum Consulting, Social Democratic Forum, Change for Defending Rights and Freedoms Organization, Legal Assistance and Defending Human Rights Organization. The establishment of the coalition was announced at a civil society workshop for EITI held in the capital Sana’a on 18-20 October 2009, coordinated by HRITC in cooperation with RWI and PWYP. Amongst its objectives the coalition is supporting the Yemen Transparency Council and is campaigning for successful EITI implementation. This new coalition is uniting civil society efforts in Yemen to improve access to information relevant to the exploitation of natural resources.

Since October 2009, the coalition has organised two workshops in alliance with the Yemeni Transparency Council and the World Bank. In February and April 2010, participants concentrated on EITI implementation and specifically on the role CSOs can play, drawing on the experience of Kazakhstan. A peer learning trip to Kazakhstan is under consideration. Such a trip would form the basis to creating a partnership between civil society in both countries so that members in Yemen can benefit from the lessons learnt in Kazakhstan with regard to EITI implementation. An action plan for May 2010 to May 2011 has already been written up but the coalition is awaiting secured funding prior to commencing further training programs and wider dissemination of transparency related topics among the general public.