18 March 2026 –

by the Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC, and AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization

Before continuing, it’s important to mention that Yemen has been in a civil war since 2014. This makes the day-to-day operation of any anti-corruption activities highly sensitive. Stories like this one show how crucial it is to keep the fight against corruption front and center, even if incredibly difficult under a conflict zone, and despite the follow-up activities being halted by the authorities. AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization had hoped to conduct their follow-up activities in both Sana’a and Aden, but due to security concerns and travel restrictions, this was only possible in Sana’a, where they are based.

Following the publication of a civil society parallel report on UNCAC implementation led by AWTAD in Yemen in mid-2022, the Coalition continued its support to conduct follow-up activities on the key recommendations identified in their report in late 2024 and 2025. Through engagement with key stakeholders from government and civil society alike, AWTAD raised awareness of the key findings and recommendations, with the aim of updating relevant legislation and regulations, and improving their implementation in practice. Their objectives included:

1. Establish a fund to manage recovered and confiscated assets from corruption and money laundering, to benefit the victims of corruption, 
2. Set up safe reporting channels for whistleblowers of corruption, and providing them with compensation,
3. Leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to enhance governance and combat corruption in Yemen.

Leveraging stakeholder relations to strengthen the fight against corruption

To strengthen stakeholder relations, AWTAD kicked off its follow-up activities by organizing the 9th edition of their annual event to honor anti-corruption and integrity champions around International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) 2024. This event is well-attended by civil society, national and international media outlets, such as Al Jazeera, as well as government stakeholders, including senior officials from the Presidency of the Republic, the parliament, the Shura Council, as well as the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption. Since 2013, 81 media professionals, activists, unionists and academics have been honored in this ceremony, following a nomination, appeals, and voting period.

A few weeks before this event, AWTAD launched two campaigns and coordinated the signing of petitions on the following key priorities:

1. The campaign and petition under the slogan “No to recycling corruption in Yemen…Towards honest and transparent management of recovered assets” called for the establishment of a fund for expropriated, confiscated and recovered assets from corruption and money laundering. 
2. The campaign and petition under the slogan “As a legitimate entitlement: 10% incentives for those who report corruption incidents” called for the approval and allocation of 10% of the total funds and assets recovered or confiscated from corruption offenses as financial rewards to individuals, organizations and media outlets that contributed to uncovering and reporting those incidents or providing certificates and documents related to them. 

Both petitions were disseminated through a funded social media campaign targeting all major cities in Yemen, and especially NGOs, media outlets and activists, as well as during the IACD event, and were submitted to the representative of the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Authority for Combatting Corruption, who promised to raise it at the institution’s next board meeting.

To reach an even broader audience, AWTAD organized a special television discussions series around International Anti-Corruption Day via Al-Hawiya satellite channel, the most watched satellite channel in Yemen. In several episodes, they discussed the priority recommendations from their parallel report on UNCAC implementation:

• Episode One focused on protection and incentives for whistleblowers of corruption offenses.
• Episode Two discussed the fate of recovered assets from corruption offenses and why a special fund to manage these assets has not yet been established.
• Episode Three covered looted and smuggled funds and properties outside of Yemen and the fate of properties previously frozen by the UN Security Council
• Episode Four discussed the risks of cybercrime in Yemen.
• Episode Five focused on how to restructure the oversight of anti-corruption agencies and bodies in Yemen and improve the system.

These episodes covered highly sensitive topics, including one referring to the assets frozen by the UN Security Council. The last episode was said to have  caused some controversy, and was not published by the television channel, or shared on their Telegram account – likely due to pressure not to publish it. The television channel, which is viewed as the most critically outspoken one in Yemen, has been a victim of attempted government shutdowns in the past. While this is unfortunate, it can also be seen as a sign of increased pressure from civil society which is not going unnoticed. As expected, out of several government agencies invited to participate in the television discussion series, only one sent a representative, the Ministry of Communications, to contribute to the episode on combating cybercrimes. 

Following this particular discussion, AWTAD held advocacy meetings with the head of the Financial Information Collection Unit at the Central Bank and the Vice President of the Supreme Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in their office to discuss their recommendations and coordinate holding future discussions on this topic. In April 2025, ​​AWTAD organized a workshop entitled “Leveraging Technology and Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Governance and Combat Corruption in Yemen,” in cooperation with the High Authority for the Control of Tenders. 

Initial impact 

The two petitions that AWTAD submitted to a member of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Authority Council at the IACD event were discussed in an official meeting at the Council in Sana’a, and the competent departments were assigned to study the demands and submit a report to the Authority Council. 

The report was subsequently provided but, according to AWTAD, presented some issues. One example is that it stated that the current mechanism of managing corrupt funds by depositing them in the general government’s account at the Central Bank of Yemen was an appropriate mechanism, forgoing the need to establish another specialized fund. This constitutes a misrepresentation of the UNCAC and the FATF’s requirements related to anti-money laundering and asset management.

The recommendation to grant financial incentives and rewards to whistleblowers, experts and witnesses of corruption offenses, specifically linked to the recovery of assets, was highly contested by government officials who were reluctant to consider the 10% threshold that AWTAD proposed. Previously, a draft law amendment had included 2% of the amount recovered as a general incentive – to be distributed among all those who contributed to corruption cases, including investigators, judges and competent authorities, in addition to whistleblowers and witnesses. The government seems to believe they have priority in receiving rewards for recovered assets, despite this being their job which they receive salaries for.

Nevertheless, AWTAD’s continued advocacy on the protection of whistleblowers led to the draft procedural guide for protecting whistleblowers, witnesses and experts to be approved by the Council of the Supreme National Authority for Combatting Corruption, after two years. The next step was advocating for civil society to be consulted on the guide before its final approval.

Following the workshop on leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to enhance governance and combat corruption in Yemen, and the meetings held with relevant government stakeholders on this topic, AWTAD started compiling a draft roadmap for digital transformation. 

Unfortunately, the remaining planned activities have not been possible to fulfill, including a workshop to further develop the roadmap for digital transformation, and continued engagement and meetings on its parallel report recommendations with the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, competent committees of the House of Representatives in Sana’a and of the Parliament in Aden (virtually).

Challenges and risks of advocacy in a conflict zone

Operating in a conflict zone comes with inherent risks, but it was shrinking civic space, unresponsive authorities and not being granted the required permissions that prevented AWTAD from continuing its follow-up advocacy activities to strengthen UNCAC implementation in Yemen. 

Challenges included:

• Despite prior coordination with the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Authority and the Supreme Authority for Oversight of Tenders, AWTAD faced multiple risks due to security and administrative complications imposed by the authorities in Sana’a.
• The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor failed to respond to requests for the necessary permits to continue monitoring activities. A serious dispute arose between the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Authority and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor regarding the authority responsible for approving anti-corruption projects. Ultimately, neither responded to AWTAD’s correspondence. This led to the security services intervening and refusing to issue the permit.

AWTAD attempted to reach an agreement with an NGO in Aden to complete the remaining activities, but this was not implemented due to the climate emergency in Aden during that period, followed by the deteriorating security and political situation there. Shortly before coming to an agreement with an NGO in Aden, the authorities in Sana’a began a process of reversing their refusal of the permit to conduct the activities. Apparently, the UNCAC Coalition, under its old name and as the funder of the follow-up activities, had been confused with a UN agency during a time when Sana’a authorities were carrying out widespread arrests of UN staff in areas under their control. However, the permit never ended up materializing, and AWTAD was specifically instructed not to continue its activities in this regard. Towards the end of 2025, the conflict situation in Yemen further escalated, resulting in the mutual decision of both the Coalition and AWTAD to end the follow-up activities.

It is encouraging to see that civil society organizations like AWTAD, despite unimaginable circumstances and restrictions, continue the fight against corruption, by raising awareness, engaging with key stakeholders, all with the victims of conflict and corruption in mind.

See other examples of follow-up activities we have supported here.