Armies of Liberation

Yemen Post
Security forces in Aden released on Saturday members of the Labor Union Committee who were arrested at the Aden Container Terminal over the strike that was held by Aden port workers.

They were freed after a week in custody by the governors order.

However, the workers at the Aden Container Terminal have been striking for eight straight days in protest on feared injustice that they may have after the station was handed over to DP World.

They claim they know nothing about the agreement under which the terminal was taken over by the DP world and can’t decide over issues that concern them.

The workers have launched stages since the agreement was signed early this month, describing the deal as unfair and harms the interests of the whole country.

YO

Workers at the port of Aden have gone on strike in protest over new contracts issued by Dubai Ports World’s (DPW), the port’s new administration, said sources at the workers syndicate on Monday.

More than 90 per cent of the 600 workers at the ports of Caltex and Al Mualla have been on the strike since last Saturday, said workers representative Abdu Rabu Majda.

The strike came about one week after DPW began to operate the port of Aden following an agreement signed last July between the Yemeni government and DPW.

“The main reason behind the strike was the new contracts, which gave DPW the right to sack any worker. It also put all workers on six month probation,” Majda told the Yemen Observer.

Most of the 600 workers did not agree to the new contracts and went on strike, he said.

About seven workers chosen to represent their peers in negotiations with DPW and Yemeni authorities were arrested by security forces in Aden the first day of the strike. However Aref Al Muhairi, Director General of DPW, denied any problem at the port, and denied the implementation of new work conditions, saying the strike did not affect work at the port.

He said work stopped only for three hours at the beginning of the strike. “And within 48 hours everything will be as it was, we are operating 45 ports, and we know what we are doing,” Al Muhairi told the Yemen Observer.

“There is nothing new in the contracts, they were under discussions for four months with the Yemeni government,” he said. “For those who do not like to work with us, it’s up to them, they can go wherever they like,” he added.

There’s been labor problems at the port of Aden for over a year. News Yemen

ADEN, NewsYemen

More than 500 workers in the Aden Containers Terminal (ACT) resumed Sunday a general strike in protest to an agreement signed between the government and the Dubai Ports International Company (DPI) to operate the ACT.

Workers said the agreement does not care about them and their position is not defined. They expressed fears being fired by the DPI administration or being rights-deprived.

Board chairman of the Gulf of Aden Ports Company, key partner of DPI in operating the ACT, Mohammad Eyfan, said it is not the business of the government to solve the workers’ problems anymore after it had handed overt the ACT to DPI. Eyfan described the worker’s strike as “mess” and that DPI is able to dissolve the problem of workers as DPI has experiences in 43 terminals around the world.

Workers suspended the strike on Saturday after the deputy governor of Aden, the Social Affairs and Labor Office in Aden and the office of the General Authority for Aden Free Zones promised them to discuss their requests and find satisfactory solutions.

DPI has not offered any statement on the strike until writing this report.

More, there hasn’t been a lot of coverage.

Yemen Post
As soon DP World, Aden-Dubai Company for Ports Development, announced officially last Thursday taking over management operations in Aden Container Terminal, the containers terminal workers started a comprehensive strike within the terminal premises.

(Read on …)

Meanwhile Port workers are on strike.

YahooDUBAI (AFP) – The Emirati DP World group said on Thursday it has officially taken over container operations at the Yemeni port of Aden in a joint venture partnership with the Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corporation.

“The agreement includes the lease of both Aden Container Terminal and of nearby Ma’alla Container Terminal, and a commitment by the joint venture to invest around 220 million dollars in further developing the port,” it said in a statement.

(Read on …)

There’s massive corruption in the Heath and Medicine Ministry. A lot of donated and state funded drugs and equipment gets stolen from the ministries shelves. A real doctors union could put some pressure to increase health care standards. But no, what’s been produced is another clone. Similarly, if its impossible to get even a fair union vote, what do we think of the upcoming Parliamentary vote?

YO
The Yemen Observer recently published an article about the results of elections to the Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat Branch during a subsidiary meeting on October 16. The purpose of these elections was to choose an administrative authority for the syndicate. Yet oddly enough, another meeting was held October 30 to conduct new elections to choose the administrative authority of the same Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch.

Last week in a simple hall used for wedding ceremonies, the first sub-conference of the Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch elected Dr. Mohammed al-Surmi as a Chairman of the syndicate. His election took place in the presence of a large number of Yemeni doctors. Yet, the first sub-conference of the Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch was again held in the Al-Shawqani Hall of the Policemen Faculty to elect a new leader and administrative authority.

(Read on …)

Yemen Observer:

However mature and well-educated they may be, women in Yemen still do not enjoy equality status with men. This is largely due to social traditions that still regard women as minors needing help and support, said a paper on women and tribal traditions in Yemen.

Women’s roles largely remain confined to giving birth, raising children and caring for the home and family, said the paper which was presented by researcher Dr. Afaf Al Haimi in a symposium held in Sana’a this week on the political role of tribes in Yemen, Jordan and Iraq.

“Education for women is not regarded as essential, especially in rural areas where women generally work about 16 hours per day on farms, in houses and gathering water,” said Al Haimi.

The rate of illiteracy among women in rural areas is as high as 75.7 percent and 40.5 percent in the urban areas, she said.

The gap between male and female education is 76 girls for every 100 boys, but in the high classes the number of girl’s decreases. At this level, there are only 44 female students for every 100 male students, she said.

The researcher also noted that there is a high drop out rate for girls at nearly every level of education. Girls generally drop out of schools because of early marriage, and because the prevailing culture does not stress female education. Also, housework, especially in rural areas and family traditions, often prevent women from leaving the home, the researcher said.

In government institutions, the researcher said, the number of female employees is around 90,464 compared to 440,061 men.

The researcher also criticized Yemen’s educational curriculum, saying it discriminates against women by focusing solely on what are typically regarded as male virtues- heroism and success, and it stresses the power of men.

She said the country’s political parties do nothing to help women. These parties are strongly affected by the country’s tribal culture which looks at women as inferior, the researcher concluded.

YJS dispute about admission of new members delays elections, Yemen Post

The Editor in Chief of Al-Ray Al’am (Public Opinion) newspaper Kamal Al-Olfi revealed that his newspaper’s office was set into fire by anonymous elements last Friday.

Al-Olfi mentioned in a press release that the fire was casued by petrol, which was poured outside the office’s door, therefore, setting the entire office on fire, hinting some of the office equipments were destroyed completely.

Stressing that the paper will not change its stance, Al-Olfi accused corruption forces of standing behind the incident especially when his paper has been launching wide campaigns to criticize corruption and corrupt officials.

In its recent issues, the paper attacked the Minister of Local Administration Abdul Qader Ali Hilal and a number of commercial institutions.

For its part, Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) described the incident to be a dangerous development targeting independent newspapers. It also considered this incident to be a new way for intimidating the independent media.

The syndicate demanded Interior Ministry to launch a prompt investigation into the circumstances of the incident and to reveal those who were behind it.

In related news, YJS will hold elections next October to vote for a new council. Though these elections were supposed be conducted last June, political differences over admitting new members among the syndicate’s affiliates pushed the syndicate’s presidency to delay the elections.

Government study shows 30000 children working in 8 Yemeni provinces

SANA’A, Aug. 15 (Saba) - A recent study has shown that 30000 children working in the streets of eight Yemeni provinces.

According to the study, prepared by the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood in cooperation with the Arab Council for Childhood and Development, the majority of street children are aged between 6 -14 years and the rate of male children reached 70 per cent.

The official study said that the causes of the emergence of street children in the capital Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Hajjah, Hodeida, Saada, Dhamar and Hadhramout were poverty, unemployment, family disintegration and parental absence due to divorce or death.

The study also pointed out that family disputes, violence against women, mistreatment of children, domestic migration and lack of social services were other causes of the phenomenon.

The study mentioned that the street children work as street vendors, cars washers, cleaners and beggars in addition to working in markets, restaurants, laundries and furnaces.

According to the study, diseases affecting the street children included malaria, diarrhea, various infections, diabetes, anemia, pains of spinal and back, liver and skin diseases and headaches and stomach pains.

Yemen Observer:

Unemployment in Yemen currently affects around 44 percent of people that have completed middle school and 54 percent of those holding bachelor degrees. It has thus become one of the main obstacles and an important challenge for the national development of the Republic of Yemen, as well as a priority in the Government’s political agenda, both at the regional and the international level. Amat al-Razaq Hummad, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor stressed these facts during the launch of the National Strategy workshop for held in Sana’a last Tuesday.

(Read on …)

ISA:

Text of report by London-based independent newspaper Al-Quds al- Arabi website on 17 July
[Report by Khalid al-Hammadi in Sanaa: "Analysts consider the formation of the Virtue Commission in Yemen as a sign of the weakness of the state or intended to divert the attention of the public away from its suffering prior to the parliamentary elections; the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue or the 'Yemeni Al- Mutawa'ah' declares war on prostitution, alcoholic beverages, drugs, and child trade"]

The commission to protect virtue in Yemen held its first conference in Sanaa yesterday. The conference -that was held with official backing -was attended by a large gathering of senior religious scholars and intellectuals from various parts of Yemen with a noticeable absence of the leaders of the opposition parties, including the Islamist Reform Party. The conferees decided to change the name of the commission from the Virtue Commission to the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue thus becoming identical in character and tasks to the Saudi Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice that is popularly known as the “Al- Mutawa’ah”.

(Read on …)

Saleh is celebrating 30 years in power.

Sahwa Net –Demonstrations held on Thursday in Dhala and Lahj provinces demanded to cancel celebrations in which the authorities force citizens to attend to, according to their descriptions .

The demonstrators described marking the July 17th as a two parts behavior and exclusion policy. Sahwa Net correspondent in Dhala province said that slogans demanding to recognize the south issue end of prosecuting southern activists and release political prisoners were raised in the demonstrations. “Demonstrators stressed the continuation of peaceful struggle until all citizens’ rights are met” added he. Furthermore, demonstrations held Thursday in Lahj province denounced marking the July 17 as a national occasion, considering such act a devotion of division language.

On the other hand, the Joint Meeting Parties in Mahweet condemned forcing employees to attend the celebration of the president’s 30th anniversary of assuming power. Yemen’s president Saleh took power in north on 17 July 1978.

Yemen Observer

Calling upon the government to pay particular attention to the social and political dangers of unemployment was the aim of a workshop held last week in Aden. It was conducted by the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) Developing Center for Childhood and Youth (DCCY) in cooperation with the Canadian Center for Development of Aden, titled ‘Unemployment among youths, reality and solutions.’

Participants asked the NGO to do surveys in order to give real statistics about unemployment in all governorates of Yemen. They asked only non-government sources because they will give real numbers and facts about unemployment which will not be done by government organization.

Unemployment in Yemen has reached 34 percent, according to a report in 2006 issued by the Ministry of Planning and International Corporation. The report stated that less than half of working age young people are unemployed. Unemployment is on the raise according to the same report. There were around 188,000 graduates of 2006 while the government can only employ 16,000. The reports said that the number of graduates will increase during the coming years – and unemployment along with it.

(Read on …)

AM

Almotamar.net - Hundreds of Yemeni journalists intend staging a massive sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Yemini Journalists Syndicate (YJS) in the capital Sana’a on Saturday. The sit-in comes in protest not deciding their applications for the union membership and in condemnation of what they have described as double standard the YJS councils in dealing with them.

Almotamar.net learned that hundreds of journalists from different governorates intend to erect a camp in front of the YJS headquarters in condemnation o f the unprofessional behaviour of the Journalists syndicate in dealing with its members and its message in general and in protest to depriving them of the union’s membership.

More good news

Yemen Observer:

A large number state employees numbering 9,600 were fired by the Ministry of Civil Service for failing to give their automated fingerprints on time, said Minister of Civil Service Hamoud al-Soufi last Tuesday.

In a statement to Yemen satellite TV channel, al-Soufi said the decision was taken after the different ministries and state institutions affirmed those employees have over passed the legal period of absence and for not come to give their electronic fingerprints on time. The fired employees are believed to be either ghost employees or ones that had dual jobs and did not want to be discovered they had more than a job.

Also, in its session held last Tuesday, the cabinet ministers approved the decision of the Ministry of Civil Service to adopt the new DERMALOG MultiFinger Biometrics system for payments of all the state employees across the country starting from July 2008. The system will also be used for the employees daily signing in.

(Read on …)

Yemen Times

SANA’A, May 1 — Yemen is marking International Labor Day, also called May Day, by celebrating the occasion in its capital city of Sana’a today.

Mohammed Al-Jidri, head of the General Union for Yemeni Laborers, told the Yemen Times that more than 100 workers selected from all governorates will be awarded at the celebration at the Cultural Center.

He noted that each governorate will celebrate the occasion by rewarding several distinguished workers, adding, “Even companies will celebrate the day, with 4,000 workers being rewarded.”

According to him, Yemen has more than 10 million laborers between the ages of 15 and 64 working in the private, public and agricultural sectors. (?) Yemen’s estimated population is 21 million, 45.9 percent of whom are under age 15.

(Read on …)

Not counting agricultural work

Mareb

A governmental study reveals that about 700 thousands Yemeni children between 4-14 years old are working in streets of main cities because the poverty.

The Central System for Counting in Yemen, International Labour Organization, Social Fund for Development, and UNICEF are preparing to launch a wide field survey for child labour.

The survey aims to create a database clarifying the size of this phenomenon in Yemen which reports say it is increasing during the last years because of the deterioration of living status and the spread of the poverty.

The recent study issued by Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour said that the rate of child labor in Yemen last year increased from 400 thousand working children in 2000 to 700 thousand children working in jobs that do not fit with ages.

The study reveals that about 2 million children drop out of schools.

YT

SANA’A, April 20 — More than six percent of Yemenis have dropped below the poverty line due to rising staple food prices, joining the 40 percent of Yemenis already living on less than $2 per day, Yemen’s country director for the World Food Program, or WFP, said at a press conference Saturday.

Additionally, there are few viable methods available to the average Yemeni family to help cope with the recent increased risk of starvation.

“Coping mechanisms are limited to skipping essential needs, so it either affects the food basket or health and education,” said Mohamed El-Kouhene, Yemen’s WFP country director, adding, “If we don’t do something now, Millennium Development Goals will be set back 70 years.”

In order to feed their families, those Yemenis living below the poverty line will have to either skip meals, decrease their intake of fruits, vegetables and meat, or discontinue medical visits and schooling for their children, he noted.

The state of the nation’s food instability, which has increased due to price hikes, has become more precarious as the $28 million gap between the WFP’s budget and Yemen’s need continues to grow.

Although the Yemeni government has been attempting reforms in water management and increasing agricultural output, these efforts aren’t enough to stave off hunger for the majority of the population, as both rural and urban residents are affected.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick urged developed nations to contribute the promised $500 million in emergency donations to the WFP in a press statement made on April 9. “This isn’t just a question of short-term needs, as important as they are,” Zoellick stated to the Associated Press. “This is about ensuring that future generations don’t pay a price too.”

Between June 2007 and March 2008, the price of basic cereals has increased 55 percent worldwide, according to El-Kouhene.

A major factor contributing to the global rise in grain prices are energy and oil prices, which affect everything from food production to processing to transportation.

With oil prices reaching new heights, El-Kouhene expects food prices to increase as well, climbing for several months before stabilizing.

While there have been reports of field workers bribing beneficiaries or stealing food, El-Kouhene says the WFP has a strong monitoring system, noting that when commodities disappeared from one WFP warehouse last year, they were restituted quickly.

Other problems, such as water shortage and using arable land for qat production, are under government review, but the 46 percent of Yemenis living in dire poverty don’t have the luxury of waiting for solutions.

Three million kids working

Al-Sahwa

Alsahwa.net

March 31, 2008 – A recent statistic prepared by Child Labor Office in 6 Yemeni governorates estimated child labor about 189000 children.

The study made clear that most children work in farming;38,000 in Ibb, 29,000 in Sana’a, 27,000 in Dhamar, 28,000 in Amran, 20,000 in Hodaida.

An official report issued recently by the Shoura Council pointed out that the child labor growth in Yemen is 3 percent.

,indicating that child labor extensively centers in the field of agriculture by 92%, while 4.8% work in services , 2.5% of them are non-professional employment.

The report also explained that children work for over 17 hours a day and receive low wages.

According to a statistics prepared in 2003, the number of child labor reached 3,2 million children. Law prohibits child labor in some occupations.

According to Yemen’s law, the established minimum age for employment is 15 years in contrary to the international law which identifies that with 18 years.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor estimated in 2000 that 400,000 children work in occupations which do not fit their ages and about 2,000,000

Yemen Observer

Yemeni children under one year of age are especially prone to malnutrition, according to a Sana’a University study conducted by a group of researchers at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science.

The study was conducted on child patients younger than ten years of age from a number of governmental hospitals in Sana’a. “This research was aimed to assess and quantify the magnitude of inequalities in under-ten child malnutrition, particularly those ascribable to socio-economic status and gastroenteritis, to consider the policy implications of these findings,” said Dr. Ubada Jum’a, one of the researchers involved in the study.

About 53 percent of Yemen’s population,with more than 24,000 Yemeni children under the age of five, are estimated to suffer from malnutrition, according to officials of the Country Program, run by the United Nations World Food Programme in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health and Population and the Ministry of Education. The Country Program is expected to be implemented in Yemen during the next five years.

The World Health Organization defines malnutrition as the cellular imbalance between supply of nutrients and energy and the body’s demand for them to ensure proper growth, maintenance and specific bodily functions.

A child becomes malnourished because of illness in combination with inadequate food intake. Insufficient access to food, poor health services, the lack of safe water and sanitation and inadequate child and maternal care are underlying causes.

More than 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water and some 2.9 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. This results in the spread of infectious diseases, including childhood diarrhea, which in turn are major causes of malnutrition.

Malnutrition contributes to over 6 million deaths of children each year of the nearly 12 million deaths among children under five in developing countries. Half of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished.

Poor eating habits or lack of available food may lead to malnutrition. Malnutrition occurs in children who are either undernourished or overnourished. Children who are overnourished may become overweight or obese, which may lead to long-term health problems and social stress. Malnutrition can occur because of the lack of a single vitamin in the diet, or it can be because a person isn’t getting enough food.

Malnutrition also occurs when adequate nutrients are consumed in the diet, but one or more nutrients are not digested or absorbed properly.

The Yemeni study found that most cases of malnourishment, 44 percent are found in children less than six months of age with about 33 percent of children between 7 months and one year old are suffering from malnutrition. Children between one to five years of age suffer less from malnutrition than other age groups, with a rate of 22 percent, the study found.

According to the study, most of the malnourished children, 76 percent, come from various rural areas, while just 25 percent are found to be living in cities. Since the highest rate of malnourished children is found in rural areas, this can be interpreted and being caused by the parents’ lack of education. It was found that 89 percent of the mothers were not educated, while just 3 percent of the fathers were highly educated.

The family’ socioeconomic condition plays an important role in affecting children’s nutrition, as about 33 percent of affected children were living in a low socioeconomic state.

The study noted that about 23 percent of malnourished children suffered from respiratory problems after delivery and 29 percent of them had gastrointestinal tract (GIT) troubles. Moreover, it is important to note that just 45 percent of the children were breast feeding, while 33 percent were fed with artificial milk and 22 percent were fed with both, the study said.

“It’s also interesting to know that more than 40 percent of malnourished children had stopped breast feeding before reaching one year of age. This may be the main cause of malnutrition and inadequate nutrient intake,” said Dr. Jum’a.

Vaccination is very important for protecting children from many diseases. The study also found that 50 percent of the children did not receive regular vaccinations.

Gastroenteritis was found to be the most prevalent cause of malnutrition in Yemen as about 64 percent of cases were found to be due to gastroenteritis and 22 percent were due to abnormal dietary intake. These causes have a correlation with breast feeding and the family’s low education and poor socioeconomic conditions.

Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the world. Its widespread nutritional deficit is likely the result of Yemen’s extremely low national income, as well as the poor state of education in the country. The fact that roughly 50 percent of families’ income goes towards qat is also a factor. In 2005 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Yemen 151st out of 177 in the list of countries on the Human Development Index.

According to the UN World Food Programme, almost half the people in Yemen do not have enough to eat. About 40 percent of Yemen’s population of 22 million lives below the poverty line on less than $2 per day. Moreover, opportunities to receive education and health care are limited, especially in rural areas, where 88 percent of women and 36 percent of men are illiterate, the report shows.

The World Bank has noted that the average annual income was only $450 in 2003, and Yemen’s unemployment rate was close to 40 percent in that same year. “Malnutrition is one of the main challenges in Yemen, where 46 percent - almost half - of the children are underweight,” said Naseem Ur-Rehman, communications coordinator at UNICEF’s Sana’a office. “The magnitude of the problem is huge, as underweight children are particularly vulnerable to diseases, compounding the issue.”

Health indicators also reveal other serious problems. The number of mothers who die during childbirth is increasing faster than in the world’s most underdeveloped countries. In 2005, the infant mortality rate (for babies under 1 year of age) was 76 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to UNICEF. The rate for children under five was 102.

The study’s researchers think that prevention of malnutrition in children starts with an emphasis on prenatal nutrition and good prenatal care. Health care providers should emphasize the importance of breastfeeding in the first year of life.

In addition to the promotion of breastfeeding, health care providers should counsel parents on the appropriate introduction of nutritious supplemental foods, the researchers said.

The study, supervised by Dr. Mohammed al-Naeb who is an assistant professor in the Community Medicine Department, recommended paying more attention to those children who are at risk of nutritional deficiency. According to the study, they should be referred to a registered dietitian or other nutritional professional for a complete nutritional assessment and dietary counseling.

The study was conducted by Ubada Jum’a, Qutaiba Lutfi, and Amer Attia.

Yemen Post

Yemeni Parliament approved amending the law numbered 25 of 1991 concerning the insurances as obligatorily put pension age at 60 and while the pension age for women was optionally fixed for 55.

The amendments allow the husband to have both his pension and his wife; however, it did not allow him to have more than one in case he is married to more than one wife and he has the right to select which pension to have with his.

SANA’A, March 22 (Saba) - UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Sigrid Kaag confirmed on Saturday the UNICEF’s interest to support plans and programs of Yemeni government to improve children and women’s status in Yemen.

Upon her arrival to Sana’a on Friday in an official visit, Kaag said that she would discuss with Yemeni officials assistance the UNICEF may provide for Yemen to improve children conditions and their health and education future.

The UNICEF really care for Yemeni children, she said, adding that we seek to reduce children labor in Yemen, which reached 60 percent among children under age 18.

Hungry working and sick

Ramzeah al-Aryani, Head of the Federation of Yemeni Women, said that around 84,000 children under the age of five die annually in Yemen due to malnutrition or lack of adequate health care. This figure means that about 250 children die every day. Forty percent of children in Yemen are suffering from anemia, weight loss and nutritional deficiencies. These problems exist as a consequence of global price increases which causes untold suffering for children and mothers.

Thats good if the government can pay for it, maybe cancel some of the weapons deals

Government raises salaries of state employees and raises social security by 100%
Tuesday, 18-March-2008
Almotamar.net - The Yemeni government approved Tuesday granting all government employees at all levels an increment in the salaries amounting to YR 3 thousand as allowance in addition to granting pensioners 50% of the decided increment.

In its weekly meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Ali Mohammed Mujawar on Tuesday the cabinet decided raising assistance to social security by 100% and instructed the ministry of social affairs and labour to continue determining the new cases and study them and decide them in accordance with operative mechanisms.

The cabinet considered directives of President Ali Abdullah Saleh concerning alleviation of the impact resulting from the rise in prices of basic stuffs. It urged intensive and strict monitoring prices and taking strong legal measures against those who violate and manipulate prices.

The cabinet also stressed the importance that the Yemeni economic establishment encourages the focus on its commercial activity in the area of wheat, flour, rice and other necessary stuffs. The cabinet asked deputy premier for economic affairs, the minister of planning and international cooperation Abdulkarim al-Arhabi to communicate with donors for providing easy opportunities for the establishment in order to enhance its activity in the area of wheat and flour through building of grain silos of the establishment.

The cabinet stressed on the ministry of industry and trade to activate its role in watching and controlling prices in the capital and the governorates and to refer violators of prices to specialised judicial authorities quickly, affirming the importance of these apparatuses in the speed of deciding the cases referred to them by the ministry of industry and trade and its offices in the governorates.

Yemen Times

- Laborers protest at Marib governorate’s premises, accusing ruling party of rigging trade union’s votes

Tens of public sector workers gathered on Monday before Marib governorate’s premises protesting against the ruling party for allegedly rigging trade union elections that took place in the governorate, the weekly reported in one of its front page stories. It added that the Marib local authority ordered tens of security and military soldiers to take control of the hall where the election was held, following withdrawal of the protesters, who challenged integrity of the election and neutrality of the supervisory committee in charge of overseeing the electoral process.

According to the weekly, the protesters also demanded the competent authorities in the government to take firm procedures against those accused of rigging the vote and committing other illegal violations with the intention of manipulating the vote result in favor of the ruling party.

Despite two of the supervisory committee members quit as a result of the challenges presented by the protesters, branch of the General People Congress in the governorate continued its activities and manipulated the vote result in favor of its candidates. The Ishteraki.net correspondent in Marib mentioned that the protestors staged a peaceful demonstration after they withdrew from the election conference, adding that they didn’t involve in clashes with policemen.

The weekly quoted a protestor as saying that there are individuals, who were appointed by the ruling party as agents for its candidates, however, they don’t work in the governorate, pointing out that the party also appointed ghost workers.

Since August, 17 protesters in the South were killed and none of the security forces have been held accountable, only the protest organizers in some bizarre legal theory. But the repetitive killings are either premeditiated or the security forces are our of control entirely. Apparently people are still being fired for political reasons and the land theft continues unabated.

Alsahwa.net

March 3, 2008 – Aden province witnessed Monday two political marches in which participators demanded to prosecute the involved of murdering two demonstrators in January as well as protesting price hike of commodities .

In a statement, the Joint Meeting Parties said that they arranged the protest in order to demand their political and civil rights.

The statement also accused the authorities of provoking troubles in the South and refusing to bring the killers of protestors to justice and continue in land plundering and southerners firing policies.

The statement further condemned all crimes practiced against southerners as well as targeting peaceful struggles.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Feb 20 — The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate and the Syndicate of Educational Professions released a statement calling for all Yemeni teachers to stage a one day sit-in on Tuesday, February 26, to force the government to raise their salaries.

The call for the sit-in came on Monday, after the extension to the negotiating period ended.

The statement said that the government had not responded to teachers’ demands to raise their annual wages within the month. The two syndicates decided to call for nationwide peaceful sit-ins. The statement indicated that while the government procrastinates from meeting the rights of the employees, claiming it is unable to curb the price hikes, it continues to operate as usual. The statement mentioned that the government neither appreciates the nature of teaching nor the significance of the teacher, who is the cornerstone of education. “This negligence has led to the constant decline in the quality of education,” said the statement.

The syndicates demanded that the government give teachers a 60 to 110 percent raise in their standing basic salaries, including YR 130,000 ($600) a month in back pay beginning from the middle of 2007, and release the annual bonuses suspended by a governmental decision in 2005.

The statement also asked the government to provide rural living expenses for the teachers who teach in rural areas, in accordance with the teachers’ law.

Moreover, the syndicates requested that local and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other syndicates sit in solidarity with the teachers. This is not the first sit-in organized by the Yemeni Teachers Syndicate. Last year the syndicate arranged many sit-ins and protests with the same demand of raising salaries. The protests forced the government to adopt a new strategy to deal with the demands, promising to raise teachers’ salaries. “The government has not made radical solutions for the teachers’ problems but limited ones. It gives teachers very small salary increases, which are nothing at all in proportion to the price hikes. In addition, the increases are always subject to many fines and taxes,” commented Ahmed Al-Rabahi, head of the Teachers’ syndicate

He added that the maximum salary for teachers according to the law is YR 160,000, and they are asking for YR130,000, which will come to YR 70,000 after taxes and insurance are deducted. In addition, Al-Rabahi believes the numerous strikes last year in many different governorates could oblige the government to pay the teacher bonuses and back pay.

Isamail Zaidan, general manager of information for the Ministry of Education, refused to comment, while personnel manager Faisal Jameel couldn’t be reached.

Abdulaziz Murshed, father of a student, supported the teachers in their demands, but at the same time is worried about his son and the other students. “I’m sure that teachers have the right to stage a sit-in because their salaries are too low due to the unbelievable price hikes. Also, every increase they get is preceded by two or three price hikes and followed by another two or three. But though they have the right to protest, students will be affected and I’m worried about that,” Murshed said.

Good stuff!!!

Yemen Post

About 27,900 of duplicates and public employees receiving money while not working have been canceled from salary payrolls over the last period, according to Minister of Civil Service and Insurances Khalid Hamoud Al-Soufi.

Al-Soufi added that they are in the final stages for removing other 31,000 public servants from payrolls for not doing fingerprinting and photo identification system, noting they have already completed granting employee cards to all servants at the level of ministries’ offices, the capital, and 12 provinces out of 19 provinces.

He pointed out that his ministry has prepared all technical measures to implement the system in other governorates within 15 days. The system is due to be completed in all public and civil service units by the end of the current month.

Meanwhile, Al-Soufi told official media that fingerprinting and photo identification system is running well in army and security sectors, hinting the leaders of these units are cooperative, stating that none will be exempted whatever his post is. He expected to finish these measures by next September.

There are ten thousands of duplicate, counterfeit and absentees in military and security sectors and some work in both military and civil sectors at the same time.

Yemeni public servant still suffers under the current circumstances because of his low income and salary.

Are they ever all going to get together?

al-Sahwa

January 5, 2008-Workers of Aden Refinery Company stroke Saturday, demanding the second stage of wages strategy and professional allowances.

The two-hour strike caused paralyzing of ships supply in the port and stopping of work in all the company’s joints including its branches.

January 5, 2008 - Chairman of the Yemeni Teacher Association, Ahmed al-Rabahi, has affirmed that YTA is preparing to arrange an all-out strike in the coming days because the government evades meet the teachers’ their just demands; ;professional allowances, annual bonuses and ending all deductions and illegal levies that hit teachers under any various causes.

On the other hand, Aden’s public schools are keeping on a comprehensive strike for the fifth day.

Schools witnessed a large vacuum in which majority of students, especially high schools’ students, did not attend expressing solidarity with their teachers.

The Secretary General of the YTA in Aden had confirmed earlier that the strike came in response to non-implementation of teachers demands.

Yemen Times
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Hadhramout workers go on Strike

Following calls by the labor association of Hadhramout, numbers of workers and civil servants have wore the red batches on their arms in protest for ignoring their demands for the implementation of laws 69/2005 and law 239/2005 for civil services, which includes a significant payrise which they were promised that will be implemented before the end of 2007.

Yemen Times

- Khab Forum in Jawf province denounces involvement of armed forces in political conflicts

The Khab Forum, made up of citizens from Al-Jawf governorate, urged the authority to review the administrative division of their district, which turned to have one local council instead of two in the past, the weekly reported. It went on to say that the forum released a statement, of which it obtained a copy, denouncing behavior of the employment committee in the governorate that sold their district’s share of job opportunities to other areas although the district has qualified applicants for such job vacancies.

The forum insisted that the governorate authorities must investigate the officials who sold their district’s share of job opportunities to other areas and give the district’s locals a top priority in recruitment, particularly as Khab is the largest and most populous district in the governorate. Participants also urged the government to provide their district with more projects and public services for its being the largest and most populous in the remote province.

According to Al-Sahwa weekly, locals of Khab and Shaghaf districts appealed to Al-Jawf governor to immediately finish implementation of Al-Buqe’- Hazm Road, as well as connect the district villages with the public highway and set up a deadline for finishing the work. The forum denounced involvement of government troops in political conflicts between locals and the government, urging the relevant authorities to do justice in the distribution of service and social insurance projects.

Yemen Times:

DHALE’, Jan. 2 — Hundreds of protestors gathered Sunday in front of government premises in Al-Dhale’ to demonstrate against illegally distributed jobs, a violation of employment policies adopted by the Ministry of Civil Service.

They also protested against favoritism practiced by office directors in the governorates, who employ their own sons and daughters, not yet high school graduates, while university students are deprived of positions.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the secretary general of the local council and rampant corruption, describing corrupt individuals as “job thieves.”

Banners were also carried by protestors, demanded withdrawing trust in the secretary general, administrative staff, educational directors and civil service officers in the governorate. They further demanded the fulfillment of the president’s electoral pledges, specifically the thorough eradication of unemployment by 2008, and opening doors for Al-Dhale’s citizens to enroll in military and security colleges.

At the end of the protest, a statement released by the demonstrators called on all civil and political groups and personalities to participate in the Million-person reconciliation and tolerance rally which will be held on Jan 13 in the province of Aden.

The statement also recounted protestors’ demands for jobs allotted to Al-Dhale’ locals and for the government to cancel those distributed to outsiders.

They further demanded an end to what they deemed a war generated by the authority against locals both within and outside the governorate.

The spokesman of the “Middle Areas Locals” called on the General People Congress (GPC) last Monday to bring justice to those people disadvantaged due to conflicts that took place in their areas, and to grant them all rights and compensations, as well as remove the effects of armed political conflict between the republic in northern Yemen and southern Yemen’s National Democratic Front during the 1970s and 80s.

Among their demands, distributed to various media outlets, they said, “We don’t want to be dragged into side disputes, but we confirm that the meeting of Middle Areas Locals is a social nonpartisan and solidarity meeting, operating to meet the rights of disadvantaged, dislocated and forcibly retired people without bias to any party.

Their meeting, announced Dec. 23, was not to discriminate between areas, indicating that Al-Dhale’ governorate was an arena for political and military conflict with the ruling regime in the northern part of Yemen.

Official GPC media and other state-funded outlets responded to the leaders of the meeting and those associated with them, such as disabled veterans, with threats of death and torture.

Naba News website, which is funded by the ruling party, also clearly threatened those in charge of the forum by claiming, “the forum incites middle area locals to kill and torture” its leaders.

The ruling party claims that it wasn’t responsible for the armed conflict that took place in Yemen’s central areas, though, according to a socialist leader, participants affiliated with the GPC used state resources and firearms to badly defeat the other side, as well as those suspected of instigating the conflict.

Yemeni teacher protest in India

In a related issue, a group of Aden University teachers who were sent to India to obtain their Master and PhD degrees decided to march in a demonstration into the cultural attaché precinct in the Indian capital city of New Delhi to directly negotiate with Yemen’s cultural attaché to reach a final settlement to financial problems which have worsened their families’ living standards and academic performance.

The teachers demanded the timely payment of their study fees and periodic aid, and stipends to cover price hikes and the rising value of the rupee. They agreed to escalate all forms of expressing their demands, using any lawful means to voice the injustice they are suffering from, as well as ensuring accessibility of their voice to the appropriate parties in India and those that sent them to India.

The Aden University teachers who studied in India will start gathering from all the Indian states to India’s capital, New Delhi, beginning mid-January.

Jarallah commemoration rally in Damt

On Thursday, thousands of Damt and neighboring area locals commemorated in a popular rally the fifth anniversary of the death of Jarallah Omar, former secretary general of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP). He was assassinated on Dec. 28, 2002, while delivering a speech in the opening session of the Third Conference of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform.

The rally, staged in Qutaiba Complex in Damt, was attended by tens of prominent leaders in the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), of whom former JMP presidential candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan, YSP Secretary General Dr. Yaseen Sa’eed No’man, JMP chairman Ali Saleh Obad were present, as well as JMP leaders from Aden, Hadramout, Dhale’, Ibb, Taiz, Amran and Dhamar.

Ali Saleh Obad delivered a speech in which he said that the sit-in movement in the southern governorates is a historic event, aiming at preserving unity and regaining national and democratic ideals. He added that the protests aim at restoring law, fighting corruption and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood between Yemenis, referring to restoring the May 22 unity and the removal of political, social and psychological impacts ensued by the 1994 war.

In turn, Mohammed Kahtan, an Islah party leader, said that what is happening in the southern governorates of Yemen is a popular motion to try the killers of Jarallah Omar. He claimed that “the killers wanted to eliminate the JMP, but instead the JMP has become stronger than it was. The authority is the source of secession due to practices of looting lands and dismissing qualified partners. If we don’t move to stop such practices, we will lose unity and the republic.”

Bin Shamlan, greeted with applause, stated, “those who thought that Jarallah Omar is dead, have to look at such sit-ins and protests occurring in most of the governorates where they all call for equal citizenship.” He added, “If the ruling party wants a unified country, equal citizenship must be established. This struggle will continue until this citizenship is met for the sake of this country and its future generations.”

Bassam, Jarallah’s youngest son, thanked all the attendees and organizers of the rally, considering it a suitable response for the killers behavior. He addressed the audience by proclaiming, “we request that you stand by us and demand a new case file to be opened to reveal the truth and discover the perpetrators.”

A number of speeches were delivered by JMP chairmen from Dhale’, Hadramout and Damt. Tawakul Kurman, chairwoman of Women Journalists without Chains, delivered a speech on behalf of civil society organizations, demanding to bring in an international committee to investigate the assassination of the late Jarallah. The perpetrators will stand before international justice because trust in the Yemeni judiciary has been lost, according to Kurman.

She further declared that the JMP should spearhead a peaceful uprising with its backers, acting on Jarallah’s saying: “peaceful struggle through sacrifice.”

Jarallah initiated his peaceful struggle from Damt district, which faithfully commemorated the anniversary of his death.

Yemen Observer

IBB - A number of candidates for jobs in the Ibb health bureau claim to have been blackmailed by officials after submitting their CV’s and other files for the purpose of employment.

The total number of the candidates to be taken on by the office this year is 239. They say they were asked to pay YR 5,000 for each file. The candidates complained about the blackmail to the governor of the province, Ali bin Ali al-Qaissi, last Monday 25th November. The governor has formed a committee to look into the accusations

The committee found officials guilty while they were receiving the files of the candidates last Monday. The committee also received hundreds of complaints from new job seekers against the office of the civil service in the governorate. They accused the civil service of tampering with their dossiers.

Al-Sahwa

YLS threatens to resort to collective political asylum

November 28, 2007- Chair of the Yemeni Lawyer Syndicate in Sana’a threatened that YLS will resort to political asylum if official authorities don’t end its constant violations against lawyers.

“Judges, prosecutions and security men commit infringements against lawyers through imprisoning them and preventing them form entering to police stations.

He further highlighted that YLS would plan to arrange protests, sit-ins and marches in case continuation of violations.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Yemeni Veterinaries Syndicate has called veterinaries all over the country for a general strike next Sunday to ask for better attention while fighting bird flu and taking care of animal wealth.

The syndicate said in a statement that it had demanded from the government some legal financial extra for veterinaries, 80% of salary, in accordance with “Regulating Animal Wealth Law” issued in 2004.

Although the president ordered to give veterinaries the requested extra to better their living standards, the order was ignored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, said the statement.
It said that officials in the ministry did ignore the financial allowances for Bird Flu Controlling Room.

Because the syndicate is interested to avoid any troubles, specially in these difficult situations the country lives, it warns the ministry to positively interact with legal requests of veterinaries and all workers in animal wealth sector bef