The water crisis is characterized by a depletion of groundwater such that economic activity threatens to become unsustainable in some areas. Lastly, there are low rates of access to safe water and sanitation. Under half of the rural population has access to safe water while only 19 percent of the population has access to safe sanitation. As a result, the Government has set up a new National Water Resources Authority to improve water resources management. The National Water and Sanitation Authority will help decentralize management of water to autonomous regional companies with possible private sector involvement.
Work is underway to focus on improving rural water supply and sanitation.
Yemen also suffers from a weak human resource base and widespread poverty. Fewer than two in five adults can read, infant and maternal mortality are among the highest in the world, and life expectancy at birth is 53 years, which is far below the average for the MENA region. Yemen's fertility rate, at 6.4 children per mother, is also one of the highest in the world. The Yemeni population is currently growing at 2.6 percent a year. In terms of health, IDA is financing referral hospitals and other facilities, building health manpower institutions, and supporting technical assistance for management reform.