The Development Champions Forum stresses that the sustainability of a peace agreement in Yemen will, amongst others, depend on two critical insights: First, in a conflict that is largely over access to resources, the issues of distribution and control of those resources can make or break peace. Second, where peace agreements lack provisions that create overall economic stability, warfare can resume during the fragile implementation period. This infographic summarizes the Development Champions’ key recommendations on economic provisions that need to be included in the peace agreement.

This infographic is based on RYE Policy Brief 20.

Since its introduction to Yemen in 1997, microfinance has been viewed as a strategic tool to alleviate poverty and reduce unemployment, for it provided a means for the financial inclusion and economic empowerment of small and micro entrepreneurs by expanding financial services to them. However, persistent challenges facing the microfinance industry have stunted its development, reach within the population, and overall socioeconomic impact. To better place the industry to achieve its socioeconomic aims in the near term and contribute to Yemen’s recovery post-conflict, the Development Champions Forum puts forth several recommendations in four areas, namely, capacity building, financing, program design, and research.

This infographic is based on RYE White Paper 06.

Yemen’s fisheries sector holds untapped promise in contributing to the national economy, with a coastline of more than 2,500 kilometers and rich fishing grounds offshore. Yet the sector has long faced many structural challenges that have limited its production and potential contribution to overall economic output, which have been exacerbated during the ongoing conflict. This infographic provides an overview of the industry’s most important challenges as well as recommendations about how the sector could be developed now and in the future.

This infographic is based on RYE Policy Brief 19.

Human capital in Yemen has long been at the lowest levels across all indicators due to the successive conflicts in the country and the weak investment in human development. Over five years since the onset of the ongoing war in Yemen, human capital accumulation has continued to regress. This video emphasizes that human capital is the foundation of development and the essence of the economic prosperity of future generations and stresses that continued neglect of investment in human capital will inevitably continue to undermine sustainable development in Yemen.

This infographic is based on RYE Policy Brief 18.

The surest means of laying the foundations for private sector recovery in Yemen, and indeed recovery for the country overall, is to end the ongoing conflict and reunify public institutions and governance mechanisms. While the conflict is ongoing, however, there are still practical, realistic steps national and international stakeholders can take to support the Yemeni private sector. Doing so would in turn help spur economic growth and job creation for a destitute population. It would also potentially initiate a cascade of positive developments in Yemen: easing the humanitarian crisis, bolstering socio-economic and political stability, and restarting formal financial cycles, among others.

This infographic is based on RYE Policy Brief 15.

Even before the current conflict, Yemen’s public finances suffered from an overdependence on energy exports, one of the lowest tax collection rates in the world, and chronic budget and balance of payments deficits. The ongoing conflict has complicated an already dire situation. Energy exports have almost collapsed, while general economic and state collapse saw a precipitous decline in tax revenues. Public debt has thus risen, while the fracturing of state institutions across frontlines has hobbled public revenue collection as well as fiscal and monetary policy. In this infographic, these challenges are highlighted and urgent and long overdue deep structural reforms to Yemen’s collapsing public finances are recommended.

This infographic is based on RYE Policy Brief 17.

Corruption, or the abuse of power for private gain, has been deeply entrenched in the Yemeni political economy for decades. Over the course of the ongoing conflict, however, state capture in Yemen has become far more complex, and new patronage networks have emerged with interests that have extended across national borders and crossed the frontlines of the war themselves, indicating collusion among supposed adversaries. As greater numbers and a wider variety of actors profit from illicit activity in the war economy, vested economic interests in continued conflict become more entrenched. Given the multifaceted pervasiveness of corruption in Yemen, any anti-corruption agenda must aim to understand the complex configuration of patronage networks in Yemen, to be introduced gradually, and to get the buy-in of as wide a group of Yemenis as possible.

This video is based on RYE Policy Brief 9 and RYE White Paper 4.

The impact of the conflict on Yemen’s economy and private sector have been calamitous, and, as a result, the economic output has dropped precipitously since its onset. The increased costs for businesses have been spurred by a lack of security and a scarcity of business inputs, while a loss of customer base and demand as well as general purchasing power decline have driven a loss in revenue. Physical damage to public and private infrastructure has also severely affected the ability of businesses to operate. And yet many businesses continue to operate; indeed, the private sector’s resilience is a major reason that the country’s humanitarian crisis–the largest in the world–is not a lot worse than it would have been in the absence of the vital role that the private sector continues to play despite all challenges.

This video is based on RYE Policy Brief 15, RYE Policy Brief 7 and RYE White Paper 3.

Scarce opportunities to earn a viable livelihood in Yemen continue to drive hundreds of thousands of Yemenis abroad in search of work, especially to neighboring countries. Over time, remittances from Yemeni expatriates have become one of the most important sources of foreign currency inflows into Yemen and have played an essential role in mitigating economic collapse during the ongoing war. Since approximately 90% of total remittances come from neighboring countries, the forcible deportation of Yemeni workers en masse; labor market nationalization campaigns that impose greater restrictions on the number of job categories open to expatriate workers; and very high fees to live and work for legally documented workers and their families have resulted in a decline of these remittances on which millions of Yemenis depend and therefore in huge losses to the country’s economy.

This infographic is based on RYE Policy Brief 17.