Minister of Planning discusses ways to strengthen development cooperation with Dutch

[11/03/2026 06:24]
Aden - Saba

The Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Afrah Al-Zuba, discussed today, via video conference, with the Dutch Ambassador to Yemen, Janet Seeben, aspects of existing joint cooperation and ways to develop it during the coming period.

The two sides reviewed the support provided by the Netherlands to Yemen, which spans decades and covers several vital sectors, foremost among which is the water sector, which represents the flagship programme for bilateral cooperation, where the Netherlands supports integrated water resource management projects and modern irrigation techniques in coordination with the Institute of Water and Environment (IHE) at Delft University of Technology, which specialises globally in water science and environmental engineering, including training Yemeni personnel and transferring Dutch expertise in this field.

Discussions also focused on Dutch support in the maternal and child health sector, in which the Netherlands is one of the leading donors, as well as programmes on access to justice and the rule of law implemented in Aden and Mukalla, and programmes on women's empowerment and youth leadership, including the Hikma Fellowship Programme, which has contributed to the training of national personnel who occupy important positions in the public and private sectors.

The meeting touched on new areas for future cooperation, including cooperation in the field of international arbitration, building the legal capacity of the Yemeni government through the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, activating Dutch and European development financing instruments to support private sector participation in development, and expanding institutional capacity-building programmes for government ministries.

Minister Al-Zuba affirmed that the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation is the central point of coordination for international cooperation, expressing her aspiration to deepen the partnership with the Netherlands as a development partner that combines long-standing development experience and a strong tradition of the rule of law.

For her part, the Dutch ambassador affirmed that the Netherlands is guided by the Yemeni government's plans and priorities in directing its programmes, expressing her readiness to explore all possible ways to enhance support and achieve integration in order to maximise the development impact.