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In the awake of the popular uprisings that swept across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, Yemen saw a period of intense insecurity and political violence. In trying to address the crisis, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) brokered an initiative to help with the peaceful transition of power, demanding, among other things, that the government engage in national dialogue.
Because of the rampant instability and weak institutional capacity in the country, and to address the urgent needs on the ground, the World Bank (the Bank) decided in October 2012 to develop an Intern Strategy Note (ISN) for the country to guide its involvement for 2013-2014 instead of the full-fledged Country Partnership Strategy (CPS). This Yemen ISN was driven by three principles, which are: “intensifying participation and inclusion, especially among women and young people; strengthening institutional capacity, governance, transparency, and accountability; and enhancing the operational flexibility of the Bank’s program.”
To assess the participation of stakeholders, especially Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Bank Information Center (BIC) conducted a study in 2015 to methodologically evaluate the effectiveness of the Bank’s consultation sessions with local CSOs during the ISN development process. The principle goal of the study is to come up with lessons learned for both CSOS and the Bank to improve engagement between the two, and for BIC to facilitate such engagement. These recommendations should also be able to inform the process of developing another Country Engagement Note (CEN) for Yemen, which is currently underway, as well as benefiting from its applicability to the whole MENA region.
The following are some of the study’s most highlighted recommendations:
For the World Bank, the study recommends that the Bank builds the capacity of organizations that need support in the areas in which they want to be engaged; ensure that CSOs are satisfied with the level of discussions so that they endorse and adopt the outcomes of the ISN (currently known as CEN); and, finally, produce periodic studies around the level of CSO engagement with the Bank that include the level and effectiveness of consultations, allowing the Bank to learn from its past experience and strengthen its relationship with civil society.
For local CSOs, the study recommends that they continue to improve the quality of the inputs they provide to the Bank’s strategies, and the quality of their engagement with the Bank more generally.
For BIC, the study recommends that it continues to raise awareness around the role of CSOs in engaging with the Bank at all levels, given its work in building the capacity of CSOs and improving the quality of engagement with the Bank.