UNESCO, EU Launch Youth Employment through Heritage, Culture Project in Yemen

UNESCO workers in Sanaa. (UNESCO)
UNESCO workers in Sanaa. (UNESCO)
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UNESCO, EU Launch Youth Employment through Heritage, Culture Project in Yemen

UNESCO workers in Sanaa. (UNESCO)
UNESCO workers in Sanaa. (UNESCO)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the European Union (EU) signed a new €20 million agreement to further support the cultural sector in Yemen.

The Youth Employment through Heritage and Culture in Yemen project will create employment opportunities for 8,000 young women and men and safeguard the country’s unique cultural heritage.

It will start in June 2022 for four years and will be implemented in different governorates across Yemen.

Head of the EU delegation to Yemen Gabriel Munuera Vinals said culture is a common good and a symbolic force for cohesion, stability, dialogue, and peace.

“It belongs to the past and serves the future. Cultural heritage is also an opportunity to enhance sustainable development by providing jobs and supporting economic livelihoods.”

Vinals reiterated that the EU firmly believes that culture can contribute to the economic development of a country like Yemen and promote peace, reconciliation, and development.

The EU delegation explained that the project would focus on employment opportunities for young people, who will increase their families’ resilience by protecting and preserving essential assets of selected Yemeni cities.

The project will also support small and micro-enterprises and cultural civil society organizations to use culture and heritage as a unifying factor and viable economic growth.

Communities will design cultural programs, enhancing peace-building and social cohesion. The project will be implemented in collaboration with local institutions.

UNESCO’s representative to the Arab Gulf States and Yemen, Anna Paolini, said the partnership between UNESCO and the EU “has taken stock of innovative modalities to harness the role of culture in sustainable development focusing on the human dimension and ensuring that Yemenis can safeguard their culture and live in dignity.”

The culture sector in Yemen has been dramatically affected by the prolonged conflict resulting in higher unemployment rates, especially for youth, and severe scarcity in cultural programming.

Historic settlements and archaeological sites have suffered collateral damage from the crisis.

The situation is exacerbated by the long-term lack of maintenance, weak governance of heritage properties, and technical and financial resources.

In 2018, UNESCO and the EU launched a four-year project, Cash for Work: Improving livelihood opportunities of urban youth in Yemen ($12 Million), to respond to urgent human needs and threats to urban heritage environments in the World Heritage Sites of Sanaa, Shibam, and Zabid, in addition to historical buildings in the city of Aden.

The Cash- or Work project has employed more than 3,380 young women and men, rehabilitated more than 166 historical buildings, surveyed 18,000 buildings, and supported 485 artists and cultural operators through 13 cultural organizations.



Jordanian Sources Confirm Policies to ‘Contain’ Muslim Brotherhood are No Longer Viable

Members of Jordanian security forces stand outside an office of the “Islamic Action Front” in Amman on Wednesday (Reuters)
Members of Jordanian security forces stand outside an office of the “Islamic Action Front” in Amman on Wednesday (Reuters)
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Jordanian Sources Confirm Policies to ‘Contain’ Muslim Brotherhood are No Longer Viable

Members of Jordanian security forces stand outside an office of the “Islamic Action Front” in Amman on Wednesday (Reuters)
Members of Jordanian security forces stand outside an office of the “Islamic Action Front” in Amman on Wednesday (Reuters)

Following official decisions to dissolve and ban the Muslim Brotherhood, senior Jordanian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the policies previously adopted by governments and security officials to ‘contain or appease’ the Islamic movement (the Brotherhood and the Islamic Action Front) are no longer under consideration.”

On Wednesday, the Jordanian government announced a ban on all activities related to the Brotherhood, declaring any associated actions as “illegal.” Security forces carried out raids on the group's premises, seizing its assets.

Sources linked the escalating stance against the Muslim Brotherhood to their refusal to condemn the cells looking to “stir chaos,” which security agencies uncovered last week.

Jordanian authorities have charged 16 detainees in the case with possession of explosives, weapons, and planning to produce drones.

According to the same sources, “the trial of the accused is expected to begin next week.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Jordan's Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh announced a ban on all activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, emphasizing that any activity linked to the group would be considered illegal.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that “new investigations were launched after security forces seized documents, computer devices, and recordings from the Brotherhood’s and the Islamic Action Front’s offices, the political arm of the group.”

They added that “if any organizational links to the chaos plot are proven through the banned group, the Front will be held legally accountable, and the constitution and laws will be applied to dissolve any party attempting to carry out military activities within Jordan.”

Under official procedures against the Muslim Brotherhood, membership in the group has been declared illegal, and promoting its ideology is now prohibited. Authorities have also ordered the closure of any offices or premises used by the Brotherhood across the kingdom, even if shared with other entities.

Sources reiterated that “if investigations reveal any organizational links between the Brotherhood or the Islamic Action Front and the cell implicated in the ‘chaos plot,’ the provisions for dissolving the party under the constitution and the relevant political party law will be enforced.”

Sources also disclosed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “security authorities are targeting social media accounts managed from abroad, which have been spreading false rumors and information designed to incite unrest and deepen divisions among Jordanians based on their origins and backgrounds.”

They confirmed that the investigation into these accounts revealed connections to “elements linked to the Brotherhood.” On Thursday, security forces carried out arrests targeting these individuals.