Poverty alleviation in Yemen: lessons from Malaysian experience

Abstract

A key issue confronting Yemen is poverty. Yemen economic fortunes depend mostly on declining oil resources while suffering from a low economic growth of 4.1% as an average real GDP growth. A weak relationship exists between economic growth and poverty in Yemen. While poverty in Yemen a rural phenomenon, most gains in poverty reduction are estimated to have accrued to urban households while rural poverty hardly changed. High population growth rate remains an underlying cause for many of the problems Yemen faces. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) lacks to adequate and proper monitoring and evaluation systems by which successful poverty policies and programs can be ensured. This paper seeks to outline the relations between Malaysia and Yemen from human development and economic perspectives in general and reflects on Malaysia experience in poverty reduction and economic growth in particular over the past 30 years of development 1970-2000. The overall goal of this paper is to review a range of policies and plans that guided the management of Malaysia development during the aforementioned period and therefore figure out practical approaches from Malaysia experience that would possibly fits favorably to the context of Yemen in its efforts to achieve substantial reduction in poverty and make real economic growth.