My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.

On 15 November, the UK Government announced a major scaling-up of their development assistance to Yemen. At the same time, I signalled DfID's intention to seek a 10-year development partnership agreement with Yemen. This will support and help to sustain the Government of Yemen's commitment to reform and poverty reduction over the long term. These announcements were made at the Yemen Consultative Group meeting on 15 and 16 November, hosted by the UK Government at Lancaster House. At this meeting, a total of £2.6 billion in future development assistance was pledged from international donors, a significant proportion of which came from the Arab states.

The consultative group meeting was attended by the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and finance and foreign Ministers from several Gulf states. The meeting was a unique opportunity for the UK to strengthen our relationship and collaboration with Gulf states and major Arab donors. The meeting followed my visit to Yemen earlier this month and intensive work by DfID and the FCO over the past six months. The outcome exceeded our expectations and those of the Government of Yemen. DfID is now working to build on this success and to take forward the challenging agenda for poverty reduction and reform set out by the Yemeni Government.

Yemen is a fragile state facing considerable challenges: high poverty levels; decreasing oil revenue; serious water scarcity; high population growth; and weak government capacity. Yemen is an important partner in the UK's anti-terrorism efforts, and ensuring stability is important. The Government's plans for scaling-up our assistance to Yemen will see a substantive increase in the UK's commitment to £50 million per year by 2010-11. This marks a fivefold increase on current aid levels and a total allocation of £117 million over the next four years. As DfID scales up, the programme will concentrate on strengthening governance, increasing economic opportunities for the poor and investing in people, with a priority of education for girls.

Currently DfID is providing support to basic education and maternal health, public financial management, security sector reform and justice reform. DfID will maintain our programmes in these areas. We also intend to work with the Government of Yemen and other donors to expand our involvement in the water sector and to broaden our support to secondary and vocational education. Both water and education are crucial areas for Yemen's long-term development.

To deliver on this agenda, DfID is working closely with the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence to link our poverty and development objectives to the achievement of long-term peace and stability for Yemen.