Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Afrah Al-Zouba, met today in the temporary capital, Aden, with country directors and senior representatives of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) operating in Yemen to discuss strengthening coordination between the Government and international organizations and enhancing the effectiveness of humanitarian and development interventions.

The meeting, attended by deputy ministers and technical officials from the Ministry, reviewed a range of operational challenges affecting the work of international organizations and explored practical solutions to address them. Discussions also focused on improving coordination mechanisms and enhancing the quality of interventions to deliver greater impact for beneficiaries across Yemen’s governorates.

Dr. Al-Zouba emphasized the importance of strengthening institutional coordination between the Government and its international partners and ensuring that development and humanitarian assistance is aligned with national priorities so that available resources are directed toward the sectors and communities most in need.

She also highlighted the need to improve aid management systems, strengthen national capacities in planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, and promote greater transparency and information sharing among all stakeholders involved in development and humanitarian programmes.

The Minister noted that the meeting was intended to produce practical measures and concrete solutions to technical and operational issues related to project design and implementation. She reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to providing the necessary support and facilitating the work of international organizations while addressing operational challenges, stressing the importance of working collectively to meet needs across the country, improve the delivery of assistance, and maximize development impact.

Dr. Al-Zouba also highlighted the Ministry’s digital platform for sharing information and data with development partners and referred to the Government’s ongoing work to operationalize the One-Window Platform, which is intended to simplify administrative procedures and strengthen institutional coordination. She stressed the importance of presenting a unified government and partner message to donors that accurately reflects Yemen’s humanitarian and development needs and supports efforts to mobilize sustainable financing.

For their part, country directors and representatives of the international organizations presented updates on their programmes and operational plans in Yemen and outlined the principal challenges affecting project implementation, particularly the growing funding gap resulting from reduced donor contributions.

They expressed their commitment to strengthening coordination and maintaining regular dialogue with the Government of Yemen to ensure that assistance and development projects are implemented in line with national priorities and sectoral needs. The representatives also reaffirmed their readiness to expand the exchange of information, expertise, and best practices with government counterparts to improve programme quality and effectiveness.

The participating organizations reiterated their commitment to continuing their support for Yemen and commended their partnership with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation as the Government’s lead institution for coordinating humanitarian and development cooperation.