Republic of Yemen

The government of Yemen has trusted UNDP to manage the HIV/AIDS GFATM grant, during phase II, for the years (2008 – 2010). The project is funded by the Global Fund for fighting AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).  The National AIDS Program (NAP) and the National Population Council (NPC) became Sub-recipients (SR) of the UNDP project for phase II. In addition, the National Blood Transfusion and Research Centre (NBTRC) was involved also as a third SR during the second year of phase II. UN agencies such as World Health Organization (WHO), The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were partners in the project to provide technical support in their core area of expertise. UNDP manages the fund through well established Project Management Unit (PMU) based at the National Population Council (NPC).

Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the AIDS epidemic.  This milestone offers a moment to reflect -- and to renew our resolve.

Geneva, 24 June 2010 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the UNAIDS Secretariat, launched the Global Commission on HIV and the Law today. The Commission’s aim is to increase understanding of the impact of the legal environment on national HIV responses. Its aim is to focus on how laws and law enforcement can support, rather than block, effective HIV responses.

The international community observes World AIDS Day each year on December 1st.  On this day we focus this year on the need for effective HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support.

Sana’a: UNDP/HARPAS held a training workshop for the media community members in Yemen from 13 to 15 Oct 2009, in partnership with the OPEC Fund for International Finance and Development (OFID).

This workshop comes as a part of HARPAS long term project in transforming the Arab press in its response to HIV.It aims at creating a press that promote PLWH’s rights, and tackle HIV/AIDS as a developmental challenge in the Arab Region.

The workshop mobilized many of media members, and trained them to be more capable of addressing HIV related issues in a way that confront stigma, and promote the rights of PLWH.

SANAA, 7 January 2009 (IRIN) - Maha (not her real name), 22, has been a commercial sex worker since she was 17. She told IRIN she and her sister were forced into prostitution to provide food and medical treatment for their ailing mother.

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"My father died when we were young and so my mother had to work as a house maid. We lived as destitutes and we could not continue our education. My mother got cancer and my sister and I decided to work on the street," she said.

"Prostitution has become our source of income. We have no education or skills... Job opportunities are very scarce," she said.

When asked whether she was at risk of HIV/AIDS, Maha said she had never been tested. "We hear about AIDS and all I know about it is that it is fatal. I think Yemen is safe as it is a Muslim country. AIDS comes from Western people and we don't sleep with them," she said.

Experts say Yemenis are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS as a result of high rates of poverty and lack of education.

Abdul-Hafed al-Ward, secretary-general of the Integrated Care Association for People Living with HIV, told IRIN: "Poverty and HIV/AIDS go together and whenever the former exists so does the latter." He said most HIV/AIDS cases were among the poor.

Yemen is ranked 153 out of 177 countries on the UN Development Programme's (UNDP’s) 2007-08 Human Development Index. According to the Poverty Assessment Report 2007 prepared by the UNDP, the World Bank and the Yemeni government, the percentage of poor people among Yemen's 21 million population stood at 34.8 percent. According to the UNDP office in Yemen, 15.7 percent of the population lives on less than US$1 a day and 45.2 percent live on less than US$2 a day.

Khaled Abdul-Majid, a programme officer at the UNDP office in Sanaa, said state institutions lacked the capacity to tackle HIV/AIDS, adding: "When there are not enough jobs, young people feel they have no future. Some resort to prostitution." He also said internal and external migration had played a role in spreading the virus.

YemenObserver// Who said AIDS is the end of life- rather it can be seen as a turning point for patients, according to M.K, one of 60 patients who attended a workshop held by the UNDP for those suffering from AIDS. He did not hesitate to be asked questions by others and advise them about the things they should or should not eat.