The Yemen Observatory for Human rights (YOHR) submitted a complaint to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel on April 13th, 2009, about the Bank’s repeated refusal to provide a translation of a key document, the 2008 Development Policy Grant, a type of program which many call the new Structural Adjustment Programs. The Panel met with YOHR members in Sana’a, Yemen, and told them in the meeting that the translation became available on June 6, 2009. The document was translated as a direct result of YOHR’s complaint and we have to wonder why it took going to such great lengths for this critical document to be made accessible to Yemenis in their own language. While the translation was made available to YOHR, it is still unclear how the average Yemeni citizen can access it, since it is not yet posted on the World Bank website.
Though the current Policy on the Disclosure of Information does not specify in detail the mechanisms through which translations of their documents should be done, who should do them, or how they can be accessed, there is hope that the new policy, the draft of which is set to be released in late July 2009, will address these matters in a more systematic and thorough way, in large part, due to YOHR’s request to the Inspection Panel.
Read this update in Arabic by clicking on the العربية tab in the top right hand corner of the page.
Read the 2008 Yemen Development Policy Grant
Program Document for a Proposed Grant in the amount of SDR 32.8 million to the Republic of Yemen for an Institutional Reform Development Policy Grant 11/6/2007 (PDF, 5,690KB)
إقرأ الوثيقة باللغة العربية
وثيقة البرنامج عن منحة مقترحة بمبلغ 32.8 مليون وحدة من حقوق السحب الخاصة لصالح جمهورية اليمن من أجل منحة سياسات التنمية للإصلاح المؤسسي11/6/2007 (PDF, 972KB)