Dr. AbdulKarim Al-Khatib

On the occasion of Tamdeen Youth Foundation's celebration of its twelfth anniversary, I extend my sincere greetings and great appreciation to its dedicated staff and its exceptional founders, foremost among them my dear friend Hussein Al-Suhailee. Through their enlightened efforts and minds, Tamdeen Youth Foundation, in a short period, transformed from a limited voluntary initiative into a leading organization with a prestigious position among civil society organizations and NGOs concerned with humanitarian and developmental work in Yemen. Tamdeen Youth Foundation has become a strategic partner, relied upon and entrusted with the implementation of large and important projects in the fields of education, health, and other priority sectors in humanitarian response, economic empowerment, and sustainable development.

One of Tamdeen Youth Foundation's most prominent features is its dedication of exceptional and distinguished efforts to advocating for supporting the nexus approach between humanitarian action, development, and peace. It has played an active role in crystallizing a shared vision and clear plans towards transitioning from humanitarian work to developmental work, through economic recovery and development programs. To achieve this transformation, Tamdeen Youth Foundation has affirmed, in word and deed, the participatory approach and strengthened coordination and cooperation mechanisms among all actors, including government entities, civil society organizations, the private sector, international organizations, and donors.

In this context, I can refer to three initiatives in which I was a witness, in my capacity as a consultant in those initiatives. The first was the organization of a series of dialogues and workshops that included a wide range of civil society organizations, the private sector, women's organizations, youth initiatives, and representatives of relevant government entities. Tamdeen Youth Foundation provided all possible technical and logistical support, resulting in the production of a set of background papers that identified priorities, needs, objectives, and methodologies for achieving them.

As for the second initiative, which was the first in Yemen, Tamdeen Youth Foundation took the lead in advocating for activating international commitments regarding the localization of humanitarian action, included in the Grand Bargain agreement between major donors and relief organizations, emanating from the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, in order to improve the efficiency of humanitarian work and increase aid. This also included implementing the commitments of the Charter for Change regarding altering the way humanitarian NGOs work with national and local actors.

The initiative of civil society organizations for the localization of humanitarian action and the improvement of humanitarian response mechanisms in Yemen was launched in August 2021, with technical and logistical support from Tamdeen Youth Foundation. The initiative aims to enhance the role of Yemeni civil society organizations and increase their participation in humanitarian work and decision-making. Tamdeen Youth Foundation, in partnership with other organizations, adopted the preparation of a study to assess the current status of humanitarian response localization indicators in Yemen. This scientific achievement serves as a baseline for monitoring and evaluating progress made in the areas of humanitarian action localization.

In a third initiative, Tamdeen Youth Foundation sought to enhance the social responsibility of the private sector in Yemen through various activities aimed at building the capacity of the private sector in this field. The latest of these was the preparation of a study assessing the reality of corporate social responsibility in Yemen and the role of the private sector in humanitarian response, in addition to preparing and developing a national strategy for social responsibility, developing a system for establishing a social responsibility fund for the sector, and also developing a pilot project for capacity building in this area.

There are many important details in what I have discussed, which I cannot delve into now, as the purpose here is to join my friends at Tamdeen Youth Foundation in celebrating the anniversary of its establishment. So, I reiterate my greetings and appreciation, and God is the guide behind every intention.