With contributions from Emaar Yemen, AGFUND, and Sila
Launch of 133 residential lighting systems and 20 systems for powering public facilities in the cities of Hadramaut, Taiz, and Hodeidah in Yemen
In the governorates of Hadramaut, Taiz, and Hodeidah, 133 solar-powered home lighting systems and 20 systems for operating public facilities (elementary schools, secondary schools, health centers) powered by solar energy, benefiting 2,950 people across 9 districts in the targeted governorates. This initiative is part of the project “Using Renewable Energy to Improve Quality of Life in Yemen,” which is supported by a tripartite partnership between the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND), and the Salalah Foundation for Development.
The project helps empower health and educational facilities by meeting their electricity needs in an efficient and sustainable manner, powering critical equipment and medical devices, and providing a suitable learning environment for students and teachers. Target families will benefit from sustainable and accessible energy, as systems have been provided to power household appliances, thereby helping to improve their standard of living.
The project involves the use of renewable energy to improve the quality of life in Yemen by rehabilitating 12 drinking water wells using solar energy systems, providing 35 renewable energy-powered agricultural irrigation systems, and supplying power to 20 educational and health facilities, and delivering renewable energy to 133 homes in five Yemeni governorates: Hadramaut, Abyan, Lahj, Taiz, and Hodeidah, benefiting more than 62,000 Yemenis.
The project’s activities include conducting training courses for field engineers on the implementation of solar energy systems; to enhance the skills of field technical teams and build their technical capacity, given the project’s significant and substantial contributions to the community in addressing numerous issues related to water shortages and limited access to water. The training courses covered a wide range of technical and administrative topics.
The Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) is a regional organization established in 1980 at the initiative of His Royal Highness Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz—may God have mercy on him . Its strategy addresses the root causes of human development challenges, targeting all segments of society without discrimination. It has partnerships with 463 UN, international, regional, and governmental organizations, through which it supports development projects, contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by funding projects that align with it.
Previously, the Salalah Foundation for Development won the Prince Talal International Prize for Human Development in 2019 in the category of “Clean Water and Sanitation,” which corresponds to Goal 6 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It is worth noting that the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen has so far delivered 229 projects and development initiatives to serve the Yemeni people across eight essential and vital sectors: education, health, water, energy, transportation, agriculture and fisheries, capacity building for government institutions, and development programs.
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