Samed Al-Samei
"We are another generation that suffers because of the instability of the situation in
Yemen, and the last generation that can provide solutions and save this country."
The young woman, Heba Noman, seemed confident of herself, and was aware of
what she was saying when she uttered the words of this shocking sentence.
Although she does not expect that the war in Yemen will stop soon, she has a clear
vision about its future: My goal is to launch an initiative for creative youth leaders in
Taiz Governorate, to join volunteer work and youth and social initiatives that
contribute to the renaissance of society, to develop my abilities and skills, and to
work tirelessly to generate electricity from garbage.” She also did not forget to point
out that graduating from University with distinction and studying for a master’s degree
are given priority.
While still in school, Heba needed to know only one thing in order to determine what
she would do during the coming years, and perhaps during her entire future. In
September 2017, when the UNDP in the Arab region launched the third edition of the
Youth Leadership Program (YLP), in which she hoped to have the opportunity one
day to participate, three years had passed since the war - which continues to this day
- broke out in Yemen. At that time, Heba, a first-year high school student, who had
just bid farewell to her fifteenth year, was visiting - with some of her family members -
relatives who live in the sub-district (Ozla) of Hathran in Al-Ta'iziyah district, Taiz
governorate, an area close to crossfire.
Before the war, that area was a major source of grain and drinking water for the city
of Taiz, but with the war and the conditions of siege in which the city is living, the
area turned into a dump, and when Heba saw this situation, she began to think about
whether she could contribute to facing this problem, and she needed to know that
there is a possibility to create a solution in order to go directly and adopt it. She was
motivated when she found that implementing a project to produce large, clean,
green, and environmentally friendly electric energy by burying waste in earthen pits
was possible, according to the capabilities available in Yemen. Later, she also knew
that the implementation of this project requires a concerted effort, so when she
participated in YLP8, and had the opportunity to design the project systematically,
she contacted the Cleaning and Improvement Fund to see if they could contribute to
it by providing a land in the Wadi al-Dhabab area In order to operate the factory
there.
In September 2022, UNDP and YLDF launched YLP8 under the title "Improving the
future of youth through quality education and gender equality" with a comprehensive
focus on access to Quality Education (SDG4) and Gender Equality (SDG5) as a
means of changing the future of young men and women in Yemen. The program
targeted Yemeni young men and women in the governorates of Taiz, Aden, and
Hadramout between the ages of 19-29 in two tracks: Community Builders and Social
Entrepreneurship.

Innovative Solutions
The Yemeni proverb says, "He who asks does not get lost." This is how YLP has
been going on for eight years. In each session, it asks several questions to young
men and women: Do you have an innovative entrepreneurial project or an innovative
solution to address a social challenge in your community? Do you want to know more
about the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)? Do you want to meet other young
leaders? Do you want to know how to design and implement projects that help your
local communities? Do you want to know how to design your entrepreneurial project
idea and implement it on the ground?
By participating in the Youth Leadership Program, young men and women have the
opportunity to be part of a dynamic network of young leaders and innovators who
want to help rebuild their communities better. They are also given the opportunity to
participate in ample opportunities not only to implement their ideas for social change,
but also to develop their leadership skills. Developing their skills in social innovation
approaches and methodologies, in addition to increasing their problem-solving and
leadership skills, strengthening their abilities in presentations, and their knowledge of
social intelligence.
The program helps young men and women expand their knowledge of the
sustainable development goals, understand economic and social well-being and
mental health and their role in bringing about effective change, and motivates them to
play a role in achieving the global sustainable development goals. In addition, the
owner of the best project may compete in a regional competition, and the two best
projects at the level of each governorate (one from each track) will receive $2,000.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) stats on its website that YLP was
launched in 2015 to “empower and support young people to design and implement
innovative, impactful and sustainable development solutions – whether in the form of
social enterprises, non-profit organizations, NGOs, initiatives or campaigns."
As such, the UNDP in Yemen looks forward to engaging and nurturing young
entrepreneurs and Yemeni youth, male and female, who are engaged in addressing
the most difficult challenges of our time and who contribute to achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
Eight Years of Success
After eight years of success associated with YLP supporting and empowering change
makers of young men and women and social entrepreneurs in Yemen to design and
implement innovative, effective and sustainable development solutions, it is not
surprising that the interest of young men and women in Yemen has increased, and
participation in the program has become a dream for them.
While the program aims at benefiting from the capabilities and energies of youth by
pushing them to build networks capable of making a positive and sustainable change
in their societies in order to accelerate the implementation of pioneering solutions for
sustainable development, young men and women in turn aspire to obtain many
advantages that they rarely get from one program. Jamal Abdel Nasser, 25, a recent
graduate from the Faculty of Engineering, Taiz University, says: "I sought to
participate in this program because it is rich in skills, and through it I can develop an
innovative grain harvesting project that I have been thinking about for a long time,
and it can provide a solution to novice farmers."

Although the program targeted only three governorates this year, namely: Taiz,
Aden, and Hadramout, it received applications from all Yemeni governorates, and the
total number of applicants for the program reached 1889, with 1368 males and 521
females. While the total number of applicants from the three targeted governorates
reached 1,690, with 1,220 young men and 470 young women. 72 young men and
women had the opportunity to participate, with 24 young men and women in each
governorate. They were divided into two tracks: Community Builders and Social
Entrepreneurs.
Regarding the first track, the UNDP says: “Over time, Yemeni youth have created
popular innovations to fill gaps in the availability of basic services in their
communities. They have shown that they can play valuable roles as
innovators/change-makers, and their contribution should be supported and seen as
part of building communities.
On the second track, they add: “Yemen, like most countries in the Arab region,
suffers from the highest youth unemployment rate in the world. Entrepreneurship and
innovation are essential to harnessing the economic potential of every nation as
endorsed by the United Nations. However, for entrepreneurship to flourish, a
business environment is needed. The added value of the program is to promote and
introduce Sustainable Development Goals oriented impact metrics into businesses,
and to promote more sustainable private sector development over time.”
For a "Yemen in which active and highly skilled young men and women play a
pioneering role in all aspects of society," the Young Leadership Development
Foundation (YLDF) is making tremendous efforts for the success of this program,
which is betting on the young men and women of Yemen. While young people
represent a wide segment in the Yemeni population pyramid, the reality is that they
do not play a significant role in the decision-making process, and they contribute little
in the economic field. Therefore, YLDF aims to "unleash the full potential of Yemeni
youth, male and female, to be able to fulfill their social and economic aspirations to
play a leading role in society.”