Yemen Journalists Continue to Combat Corruption

With support from the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) local grants program, in early 2008, Yemen’s Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) published a 495-page book entitled “Corruption: Its Kinds, Reasons and Mechanism of Combating it”.  The book was the culmination of a series of discussion panels with political and civil society activists, and training sessions for ambitious journalists on the types and causes of corruption, held in Yemen as part of the MEPI-funded project.  This ongoing initiative is intended to strengthen the legislative implementation of Yemen’s new anti-corruption law, issued in 2006, and the role of the National Anti-Corruption Committee.

In conjunction with WJWC and as part of the program, Yemen Journalists Against Corruption (Yemen JAC), an independent anti-corruption committee, issued their first report on financial corruption in Yemen for the year 2007.  According to Ms. Tawakkol Karman, WJWC Chairwoman, the report was translated and launched via a press conference that included a discussion forum. “The press was heavily engaged at the conference,” Karman added.  The groundbreaking report was also sent to several anti-corruption government bodies, in an effort to actively encourage the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases.

The dynamic anti-corruption endeavors adopted by WJWC recognized no limits.  In addition to the release of the 495-page book and the Yemen JAC report, WJWC organized a discussion forum in August 2008 on effective partnerships and strong roles in fighting corruption, where politicians and academics emphasized the importance of collective anti-corruption efforts. 

The project was covered extensively in the local press such as NewsYemen and Al Wahdawi