The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Connecting rural communities to vital services in Yemen
UNOPS and the World Bank are enhancing road infrastructure to improve access to food and basic services for rural communities across Yemen.
To address the critical need for rural infrastructure such as roads, UNOPS is constructing climate-resilient roads in rural areas as part of the three-year Yemen Emergency Lifeline Connectivity project, which began in 2022.
With $50 million in funding from the World Bank's International Development Association, UNOPS is rehabilitating and upgrading 150 kilometres of access roads in rural areas and 60 kilometres of access roads to villages, as well as supporting the maintenance of an additional 150 kilometres of road. UNOPS is also procuring and installing three pre-fabricated bridges as part of the project.
To date, works on more than 70 kilometres of roads are complete, while works on 85 kilometres are near complete.
"We are proud to partner with the World Bank on a project that will help increase economic opportunities for rural communities by facilitating their access to markets and social services," said Muhammad Usman Akram, Director of UNOPS Multi-Country Office in Amman.
The rehabilitated roads will help address food insecurity and foster the safe and reliable delivery of food and other essential goods to rural communities. The all-weather roads will also provide a way for humanitarian organizations to access more communities.
“When we saw the engineers working on the design of the road, it felt like a miracle,” said Bohebh Ali, a resident of Bajel. “The road will be very useful to us. I will open a small shop [and] girls and boys can go to university,” he added.
As part of the project, local micro-enterprises are given training on the maintenance of the rehabilitated roads. Support for internships in road maintenance is also being provided, particularly for women studying at university.
To ensure the long-term sustainability of road infrastructure, UNOPS will also assist Yemen's Road Maintenance Fund with reactivating its Road Asset Management System and tools.
"The reactivation of the Road Asset Management System will support Yemen in assessing the vulnerability of infrastructure assets, designing climate-resilient road infrastructure and preparing climate-resilient investment plans for subsequent implementation in the future," added Muhammad Usman Akram.
Read more about the project here.
