SANA’A — A source in the Yemeni government told the Yemen Times on Sunday that the Donors' Conference will be delayed to the coming September, because of the health of the Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz and death of the his Crown Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz. The conference was scheduled to take place at the end of this month in Al-Riyadh.
According to the source, the Friends of Yemen group decided to postpone the conference because the Saudi King won't be able to attend.

"Saudi Arabia will play an important role in the program of aids that will be given to Yemen in the meeting. Therefore, it is very important that the Saudi King attend the conference,” the source said.

The source denied that the conference will be put off because the Yemeni government didn't finish the conference's arrangements.

For his part, Saif Al-Asli, a Yemeni economist and former Minister of Finance, believes that the weakness of the Yemeni government and the nature of its relation with the donors are the reasons behind delaying the conference.

Al-Asli said that the conference postponing proves that the Yemeni government failed to present a program to revive Yemen's economy and convince the donors that it achieved the minimum level of citizens' dire needs as was agreed upon in the Gulf Initiative.

"The donors informed the Yemeni government that they want projects that bring benefits for Yemen and can be subjected to transparency and accountability," he added.
"The government presented projects that cost USD ten billion while it didn't achieve any projects with the USD five billion pledged it before [2006]," he continued.

The UN Security Resolution 2051on Yemen, asserted that the government has to achieve its developing plan for the upcoming two –year transitional period to be able to specify the most important areas that needs intervention.

The Gulf Initiative and the Security Council demanded that the Yemeni government must issue legal and administrative orders to all the government facilities and sections to follow the principles of good governance and respect laws and human rights.

In its program, the government pledged that the implementation of good governance principles in its two-year transition period. It affirmed that it seeks to enforce the rule of law and improve its performance.

In front of the Yemeni Parliament, the government pledged to combat those who work for their personal advantage whether in state departments or government facilities and increase transparency.