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On June 26, 2012, BIC and YOHR committed to coordinating their activities related to encouraging civil society participation in World Bank activities in Yemen.
After working together for almost 5 years, the Bank Information Center’s Middle East and North Africa team (BIC-MENA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights (YOHR). This MOU solidifies the relationship that the two organizations have developed over time through multiple visits by YOHR to BIC’s office in Washington, DC and vice versa, where YOHR has hosted BIC in Sana’a.
BIC committed to regularly providing YOHR with information and analysis of World Bank activities in Yemen as well applying pressure to the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC on advocacy issues important to YOHR. BIC will also provide tools to YOHR and other Yemeni civil society organizations (CSOs) on how to access information about the Bank’s role in Yemen and how to engage and advocate effectively.
The MOU commits YOHR to helping coordinate BIC’s work in Yemen with other CSOs and keeping BIC informed of Yemen’s latest developments. YOHR will also join BIC in regional and international campaigns to influence World Bank policies and programs more broadly.
Founded in 2004, YOHR was the CSO responsible for the World Bank’s first Inspection Panel case to come out of the MENA region. The 2009 complaint focused around issues of transparency, accessibility of information, and consultation processes. BIC worked closely with YOHR on this complaint.
The signatories to the MOU were BIC’s MENA program manager, Amy Ekdawi, and YOHR’s Executive Director, Dr. Abdul Qader Al Banna. Also present were Nadia Daar, who is responsible for BIC’s Yemen work, and Dr. Yahya Saleh who is head of YOHR’s transparency and anti-corruption unit.