Yemen’s Government Urges Transparency in Operations of Int’l Organizations
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The Yemeni government has said that 80 percent of international organizations have rejected to heed its demands on revealing operational expenses and the size of aid delivered to the country’s people.
The government warned the organizations that it could take legal measures against them, depriving them of their ability to operate in Yemen.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib al-Auj said there have been question marks on how funds made available by donor countries were being spent in Yemen.
Auj told Asharq Al-Awsat that some organizations were exaggerating in expenditures into operational costs by reaching 25 percent, although the norm is just five percent.
The minister said that the Yemeni government has recently brought up the issue with international organizations, the United Nations and the World Bank. Yet only 20 percent heeded its request.
“We are planning to take legal measures against organizations who are ignoring our demands for data on their operations in Yemen,” he said.
Auj said that the Yemeni government will also inform donor states about the issue.
Among other measures that the government could take are rejecting to renew the licenses of organizations that are lacking transparency in their operations, the minister warned.
He denied that the government is interfering in the activities of international agencies, saying: “We are grating them customs and tax exemptions, and facilitating their work. So they should in return be transparent and cooperative.”
“We don’t want to interfere in their work or impose anything on them,” Auj said. “We just want clear data so that we could announce to the Yemeni people about the assistance provided to them by such organizations.”
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