In its ongoing context of advancing improvement, Resonate!Yemen Foundation had implemented a project of knowledge-exchange visits between Marib Governorate and the State of Rwanda, within the project of "Strengthening Institutional and Economic Resilience in Yemen" (SIERY).
The project aimed to provide affluent learning experience for the senior leadership of the executive offices in Marib with their counterparts in Rwanda, which helps reflect practical plans to improve response, service delivery, stimulate local economic development, and expand the resource base in Marib governorate.
The overall objectives of this project included inspiring and building the capacity of the senior administrative leadership in Marib governorate, increasing its effectiveness through knowledge sharing with its peers in Rwanda, in addition to providing a space to explore any shortcomings that occurred in the past and to find appropriate solutions. Furthermore, it comprised sharing experience of the local authority of Marib in providing services during the conflict and developing concrete action plans to improve response and stimulate the economy.
The project began with the preparation of reading materials on how Rwanda is developing and establishing a list of participants in cooperation with the Office of the Governor of Marib, followed by an exchange visit to Kigali, Rwanda, and concluded with a workshop to collect results and a post-evaluate visit.
It is noteworthy that the delegate that was sent to the State of Rwanda consisted of 11 individuals from Marib’s local authority governorate. The purpose was to transfer expertise and benefit from Rwanda’s experience. The delegate returned to Marib governorate to start off the desired change process and the clear impact of this mission.
As part of the impact achieved by the project, the members of the mission began to develop concrete plans to improve the response in providing urban services and stimulate economic development for immediate implementation. For example, the plans of the Cleaning and Improvement Fund resulted in dedicating a specific day each month to conduct for the cleanliness of the city of Marib. It would be conducted with wide community participation; creating community awareness that such are participatory responsibilities. They are not responsibilities born solely by the local authority. The outputs of this project continue to manifest in other fields, thus, transferring the experience optimally in a way that better fits the reality and society.