The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

For more than a decade, NDI has conducted programs in Yemen aimed at providing members of parliament with core legislative skills, improving the representative nature of Yemen's political parties, increasing women's political participation, strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations and strengthening local councils. The Institute's current programs are geared towards strengthening the institution of Parliament with a focus on building the capacity of parliamentary committees to exercise their oversight authority by drafting, analyzing and effectively amending legislation and actively engaging civil society to support legislative goals. The Institute is working to build relationships between civil society and local governments by developing their ability to implement participatory budgeting and encouraging mutual engagement to prioritize community needs. NDI further supports civil society directly by strengthening their institutional processes and their ability to develop and implement advocacy and public awareness initiatives.

In an op-ed in the Globe and Mail, NDI regional director for the Middle East and North Africa Les Campbell discussed the need for continuing political reform started almost 20 years ago, with an emphasis on genuine power sharing, economic development, decentralization and rooting out corruption.

Political Context

Since its unification in 1990, Yemen has at times been at the forefront of Arab efforts to launch meaningful democratic reform and build a more representative and inclusive political system. Yemen is the first state on the Arabian Peninsula to enfranchise women and boasts a multi-party electoral system. Its political leaders, through actions and rhetoric, have created an expectation among the Yemeni people that they should have a say in how the country is governed. Despite these accomplishments and a stated commitment to modernization and reform, events in recent years — including intermittent violent conflicts — have indicated continuing challenges to Yemen's democratic aspirations.

While the pace of political development in Yemen has been uneven, the 2006 presidential and local elections marked an important step forward, with the country's first truly competitive presidential race. The main opposition grouping, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), fielded a credible candidate for president and organized effectively for his election campaign against the incumbent and eventual winner, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of the ruling General People's Congress (GPC). Over 20,000 party and independent candidates vied for approximately 7,200 seats at the district and governorate levels. The GPC won 85 percent of governorate level seats and 76 percent of district level seats. Islah, the largest opposition party, won 7 percent on the governorate councils and 12 percent of district level seats.

While the presidential elections indicated a potential opening in Yemeni politics, the local elections represented a setback for women in Yemen, especially in gaining support from political party leadership. Despite increased activism by women in the parties and extensive campaign training by a number of civil society organizations, including NDI, the nomination and election of women decreased; at the local council level, 122 women were nominated as candidates, out of nearly 19,000 total nominees. Only 28 women won seats.

In early 2009, after months of political deadlock over disagreements regarding the nature of the voter registration lists, the voter domiciles, the composition of the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referenda (SCER), and the election law, the ruling GPC and the opposition JMP agreed to make space for electoral reform and consider constitutional amendments related to the structure of the government and the electoral system. As part of this agreement, the Yemeni parliament voted on Feb. 26 to extend the term of the parliament beyond its current mandate, paving the way for a two-year delay in the national election originally scheduled for April 27, 2009. In addition to the resolution of technical issues noted above, the parties are expected to discuss the adoption of a parliamentary, rather than a presidential, system and a proportional representation system to replace the current plurality majority system.

NDI Programming

Political Party Development

Young activists discuss democratic principles.

Yemeni political parties are still learning to develop comprehensive platforms and improve constituent relations. Since the 2003 parliamentary elections, NDI has worked with political party leaders to strengthen their ability to communicate effectively and engage in open, constructive and inclusive debate. NDI continues to provide support and training to political parties to improve internal structures and strengthen coordination between the parties' central offices and branches. Building on the lessons learned from the 2006 presidential and local elections, NDI initiated a series of strategic and policy planning consultations with the central and branch leadership of the ruling and opposition parties to aid them in developing cohesive, policy-based platforms that are directly responsive to constituent concerns. NDI held multi-party sessions for women party members and youth activists to help marginalized groups within the GPC and JMP engage across party lines, in an effort to further strengthen the parties' abilities to develop policies reflecting the needs of various voter groups ahead of the anticipated 2009 parliamentary elections.

Through its work with political and civic actors in Yemen, NDI seeks to support the agreed upon inclusive dialogue process for political and electoral reform. NDI encourages the GPC and JMP to implement the February Agreement as a parallel initiative to wider dialogue efforts on issues such as decentralization, southern civil unrest and the war in Sa'ada. The agreement includes pledges to discuss reforms to the political and electoral systems. NDI is working with the ruling and opposition parties to establish priority issues for developing and implementing a reform package; build consensus on the framework for a revised political system and electoral process; and help identify and resolve key areas of disagreement between and within the parties. Steps to bundle wider concerns have hindered dialogue efforts by both sides and caused concern that political and electoral reform may be delayed indefinitely.

Women’s Participation

A women's voter registration center

Despite their active political participation, women continue to be underrepresented in the country's elected political bodies. In support of increased women's participation, NDI has engaged women political leaders across party lines and developed a network of support among women at political headquarters and branch offices. These efforts resulted in the establishment of the Women's Department in the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referenda (SCER). NDI continues to support the Women's Department in an effort to help it take an active role in the SCER and be a part of the decision making process on the SCER board. The Institute also has extensive experience working with women candidates ahead of the 2003 and 2006 elections, and has facilitated dialogue among women candidates, political parties, and the SCER to discuss and develop recommendations to address aspects of the elections law impeding women's ability to campaign effectively. In 2005, NDI held a series of focus groups to explore perceptions about politically active women and identify barriers to women's participation. The findings were used to determine in which districts women were more likely to be electoral candidates and identify potential target voters and effective messages for women ahead of the 2006 elections.

• Read the report on the focus group findings»

Election Monitoring

Citizen forum on elections

Since 1993, NDI has conducted election-related activities in Yemen at the local and national levels. Programs are designed to assist local partner organizations and government institutions, such as the SCER, in conducting voter education and registration drives. Additionally, programs work to train domestic poll watchers, enhance transparency and credibility, promote public confidence and develop systems to verify the official vote count on election day.

In July 2006, based upon successful collaboration with individual CSOs in monitoring previous elections and the 2006 voter registration period, NDI invited four Yemeni organizations to form an election monitoring network, and helped the network field 1,200 domestic monitors in 20 of the 21 governorates of Yemen. This informal network has since expanded to six organizations and transformed into the Yemen Election Monitoring Network (YEMN), which seeks to monitor the full range of the electoral process and safeguard the rights of voters.

In the context of proposed political and electoral reforms, NDI supported YEMN in expanding its domestic monitoring capacity to include monitoring electoral reform processes, informing the electorate on electoral issues and gathering voter input as new rules are developed, amended and implemented. The network has conducted community forums on electoral systems across Yemen and begun to advocate for issues identified through forum discussions, as well as in the March 2009 voter registration report. YEMN compiled the conclusions and recommendations of the forum discussions in a report, which it presented to political parties, the SCER and the JMP's National Dialogue Committee.

Additional Reports

• Parliamentary Elections, April 27, 2003»
• 2006 Voter Registration Report»
• Report on the 2006 Presidential and Local Council Elections in the Republic of Yemen»
• 2008 Report of Voter Registration» | Arabic»

Strengthening Parliamentary Institutions

While proposed political and electoral reforms may be negotiated between the political parties, the parliament is expected ultimately to be responsible for reforming the electoral process and political system through legislative action. To help strengthen parliament, NDI focuses on enhancing parliamentarians' ability to legislate, implement regulatory authority and fight corruption.

The Yemeni parliament has considerable constitutional power but it has been impeded by a lack of capacity. NDI has worked to strengthen core skills of MPs and develop the professional capabilities of parliamentary committees through workshops and the publication of an orientation manual. In 2000, the Institute began working with a multi-partisan group of parliamentarians to increase their capacity to influence the policymaking process and address constituent needs at the national level. As a result, participating members held public meetings in their constituencies, acquainting themselves with the main issues facing communities and educating citizens on the role of elected representatives. These public meetings were the first of their kind in Yemen.

In March 2005, NDI opened the Democracy Development Center to provide technical skills, training, and research support for MPs, parliamentary committees and staff. The Center has served as a neutral space in which MPs can connect across party lines and with members of Yemeni civil society. In April 2008, NDI supported the expansion of the DDC to become the Parliament Information and Training Center (PITC). The PITC is located within the parliament and aims to improve the ability of staff to provide much needed support to MPs. NDI worked with center staff and parliamentarians as they created a training curriculum, developed a team of internal experts to conduct trainings and crafted a clear vision and mandate for the center.

In partnership with a core group of MPs committed to developing the institution of parliament and advocating for anti-corruption initiatives, NDI supported the organization and creation of the Yemen Parliamentarians Against Corruption (YemenPAC), the Yemen chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC). Since its establishment, YemenPAC has supported an agenda of reform and promoted a national dialogue on anti-corruption legislation and oversight. YemenPAC's efforts were critical to the 2007 establishment of the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Commission (SNACC), responsible for monitoring all government bodies for corruption. NDI collaborated with YemenPAC on anti-corruption awareness campaigns and assisted in policy research and analysis.

In 2007, with NDI guidance, YemenPAC, with the input of the SNACC, drafted the "Declaration of Assets by Public Officials" law. The legislation, which passed the Parliament by an overwhelming majority, requires all nationally appointed figures to disclose their financial assets to the SNACC. Additionally, NDI helped create a support network of SNACC representatives and MPs to sustain SNACC's anti-corruption activities and to pursue anti-corruption policy development, promotion, and evaluation through legislative, regulatory and implementation processes.

NDI's current parliamentary support program focuses on improving legislative analysis, communication with the executive branch and the public and civic engagement in legislative drafting and committee oversight. Based on a June 2009 assessment of committees' capacities, NDI is providing assistance to seven parliamentary committees in developing effective legislative and regulatory oversight mechanisms, communicating legislative goals to constituents, and working in concert with CSOs to gather expert and public input into proposed legislation.

Civil Society Strengthening

CSOs highlight the activities and results of their anti-corruption initiatives to donors.

NDI works to strengthen the capacity of civil society actors, including non-government organizations, civil society associations and journalists, to engage in decision making and oversight processes at the local and national level.

In January 2009, as part of its efforts to enhance the cooperation of legislatures, executives, judiciary, civil society, media, and other civil society actors in fighting corruption, NDI and the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Commission (SNACC) launched a small grants program for CSOs working in the field of anti-corruption. Twenty-three CSOs received grants to implement research, advocacy, monitoring and awareness-raising anti-corruption initiatives over a three-month period. NDI's support of the anti-corruption initiatives aimed to help CSOs become effective actors in the anti-corruption efforts in the country, and better engage with the government bodies that also focus on anti-corruption efforts.

• Report on the CSO projects, results and final recommendations»

As a result of the NDI small grants program's early success and the spirit of cooperation demonstrated by participating CSOs in anti-corruption activities, the Civil Society Sector of the SNACC began advocating, and ultimately drafted, a comprehensive, long-term, commission-wide strategy to establish ongoing cooperative efforts with Yemeni CSOs in identifying, measuring and combating corruption throughout the country. The Chairman of the SNACC Mohammed Al Anisi expressed the hope that international and national support for programs with the same aim as the small grants program would continue and declared the SNACC would use the outcomes and recommendations from the sub-grants program as a basis to draft its national strategy to fight corruption. The SNACC national strategy report was completed in July 2009 and includes a chapter on the NDI grants program.

In an effort to promote effective and transparent reporting on political events and issues, including anti-corruption efforts and the political and electoral reform process, NDI conducted a four-part program series for the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) aimed at building the capacity of Yemeni journalists to better understand and scrutinize government and political processes. The program included a focus improving election-systems literacy among journalists, to strengthen the role of journalists in disseminating information on the electoral reform process to citizens.

Based on feedback from local civil society partners engaged in NDI anti-corruption, citizen participation and election monitoring programs, the Institute identified a need for increased organizational development among Yemeni CSOs. In March 2009, NDI launched an intensive institutional capacity building program to help civil society organizations based outside Sana'a achieve a sustainable improvement in their organizational structures and operational mechanisms to increase the impact of their work. During evaluation meetings in October and November, organizations reported that they had: implemented several components of their strategic plans; streamlined administrative and financial procedures; expanded their membership through volunteer recruitment campaigns; engaged community leaders in outreach, awareness and advocacy efforts; and submitted successful funding proposals to international donors.

Based on the evaluations, NDI compiled a supplemental program report that summarizes the program activities that took place throughout the duration of the program, common challenges to organizational development identified jointly by participating CSOs and NDI, a detailed list of outcomes from activities and lessons learned through observation and implementation of program components. The report will serve as a resource for CSOs and future NDI capacity building programs in Yemen and the broader MENA region.

Conflict Mitigation

Ongoing tribal conflict has prevented government institutions from functioning effectively in certain areas of Yemen, and hampered participation in elections and activities of local governing bodies. In December 2003, in an effort to end the inter-tribal and inter-clan conflicts that have disrupted democratic, social and economic development in Yemen for decades, President Ali Abdullah Saleh issued a call to tribal leaders to establish a ceasefire. In March 2005, a group of tribal sheikhs approached NDI to request assistance in developing strategies for ending conflict in their regions. Following their request, NDI conducted extensive research to gain insight on community opinions, tribal structures, processes and norms. Over 422 sheikhs, community leaders, and local councilors participated in the research project, providing the first comprehensive analysis of attitudes toward conflict and conflict mitigation, the causes of conflict, and the nature of conflict in these areas—information that is difficult to obtain given the social and political sensitivities surrounding tribal affairs, negotiation procedures, and the tensions between the national government and the tribes. One of the major findings of the research was the desire for greater government participation and partnership in addressing conflict in tribal areas.

NDI's conflict-mitigation program sought to resolve longstanding violent conflicts, including revenge killings. Working with government institutions and public officials at the national, governorate and local levels, as well as Yemeni tribal leaders and other influential social figures, this program aimed to resolve conflicts collaboratively in three target governorates and introduce additional methodologies and strategies for conflict prevention in critical development areas. The early days of the program are highlighted in a 2005 Pulitzer Prize winning series in The Washington Post. With the help of NDI, three local tribal NGOs formed a network that engaged tribal leaders, local and national government leaders, religious leaders, local citizens and youth to successfully conduct a survey and implement a coordinated public awareness campaign on the impact of conflict and revenge killings on education in three of the most vulnerable governorates in Yemen. The local NGOs, in collaboration with NDI, also established a center for conflict research and training at Mareb College and developed a curriculum for research efforts.

Local Governance

Participants in a local governance workshop analyze the issues.

As part of broader political reform proposals, President Ali Abdullah Saleh called for reforms to the 2000 Local Authority Law. NDI is focusing on strengthening the ability of local councils to develop, implement and monitor local budgets and to integrate civil society in budget development and oversight processes. Working in concert with local council members, NDI provided assistance in identifying the types of challenges that local councilors could overcome on their own and facilitated interaction with other government officials where possible to demonstrate how to engage decision makers on issues outside of their immediate control. In addition, NDI brought together local councilors and civil society organizations in working sessions to analyze and prioritize expenditures and conduct community-based budget development and oversight. Based on this work, NDI produced a manual for local councilors, CSOs and citizens, Supporting Local Governance in Yemen: Steps to Improving Relationships between Citizens and Government. The manual includes information on the roles of local councils and civil society, implementing and analyzing public expenditures tracking systems and engaging citizens in the process through public meetings.

• Read the manual in English» | in Arabic»

Contact Information

For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:

Washington, D.C.
Leigh Catherine Miles, Senior Program Manager
(202) 728-6304

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