The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) has inaugurated a project to renovate Seiyun Palace in Hadramout, with funds from the SDRPY and implementation by the UNESCO Gulf States and Yemen Office, with the aim of contributing to supporting the Yemeni government to protect antiquities and endangered historical areas.

General Supervisor of the SDRPY Ambassador Mohammed Bin Saeed Al Jabir; Yemeni Minister of Culture Moammar Al-Eryani; Permanent Delegate of Yemen to UNESCO Mohammed Jumeh; Representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to the GCC and Yemen Salah Khaled; Secretary General of the National Committee for Education, Culture and Science Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Bleihed and the Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Hani Mansi, attended the launching ceremony.

 

The project is part of helping the Yemeni government to protect the Yemeni heritage, and also a part KSA’s leading role in preserving the history and antiquities of the Arabian Peninsula and Arab and Islamic countries, and the Kingdom’s keenness to preserve tangible and intangible heritage in Yemen.

 

This project is important for UNESCO as it aims not only to rehabilitate the building itself, which is one of the world's largest mud brick structures, but also to revive its function as a museum and the center of cultural life for the local community and provide employment opportunities for young people. Through this project, UNESCO aims to strengthen the role of culture for the resilience and recovery of the local communities in Yemen in the context of ongoing conflict and natural disasters.

Salah Khaled - Director UNESCO Gulf states and Yemen Office - 

 

Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani commended the exerted efforts in the renovation project of Seiyun Palace, including efforts of the SDRPY, in addition to the important development projects and initiatives, including the Aden General Hospital, which will be officially opened in soon and is considered one of the most important projects that will serve Yemeni citizens. Al-Eryani also stressed that this exceptional effort by the program is an extension of true and noble brotherly stances of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Crown Prince in helping Yemen and Yemeni people in light of the current circumstances.

 

I would first like to convey the greetings of Minister of Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan president of the National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, who is keen to work on preserving Yemeni tangible heritage, and praises the national committee’s pride in participating in the renovation project, congratulating the signing of this memorandum and stressing Saudi Arabia’s interest in preserving the cultural heritage in Yemen.

 

Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Bleihed - Secretary General of the National Committee for Education, Culture

General Supervisor of the SDRPY Ambassador Mohammed Bin Saeed Al Jabir stressed that the project is part of the pivotal role of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of King Salman and the Crown Prince, in protecting the history and antiquities of the Arabian Peninsula and Arab and Islamic countries and as part of Saudi Arabia’s keenness to protect tangible and intangible heritage in Yemen. He also added that the project to restore the Seiyun Cultural and Historical Palace aims to protect it as a landmark and cultural center in an urban environment, which will be carried out by Yemeni workers and in cooperation with the General Authority of Antiquities and Museums in Yemen and with logistical and technical support from the Social Fund for Development in Yemen.

 

I am grateful to the leadership, government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the kind initiative to restore Seiyun Palace. Truly, it started with a message from His Excellency Ambassador Al Jabir to me wondering what we can do? From this standpoint, we took the matter seriously and worked on preparing restoration plans with the help of UNESCO, and these plans were put in their proper framework until matters reached the day when we sign the agreement to restore the historic palace, which is one of the historical museums and an architectural masterpiece

Dr. Mohammed Jumeh - Yemen’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO

 

 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Culture and the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, in partnership with UNESCO, seeks to preserve the Yemeni cultural heritage through the rehabilitation and development of cultural hubs and facilities in Yemen, the protection of historical monuments from natural damage and the rehabilitation of Yemeni cultural capabilities in cooperation with the Yemeni government .

 

 

The project aims to restore and protect the Seiyun Cultural and Historical Palace as a landmark and cultural center in an urban environment, which achieves Goal No. 11 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and whose work will be carried out by Yemeni workers and in cooperation with the Authority for Antiquities and Museums in Yemen, with logistical and technical support from Social Fund for Development in Yemen.

Seiyun Palace consists of 7 floors and more than 45 rooms, as one of the most important historical monuments in the country. The country, the world’s rarest existing mud palace, has stood the test of time for more than 500 years.

For the sake of preserving the intangible cultural heritage, the SDRPY has supported projects and initiatives in this regard, including: the Craft Lab project in the Socotra, supported 114 direct and 570 indirect beneficiaries in handicrafts and sewing; with the aim of creating the appropriate conditions and resources to improve the living situation of Yemeni women and build their capabilities to learn and engage in the labor market.

 

The Craft Lab project is funded by the SDRPY and in cooperation with the Sirhan Association. The project benefits 114 beneficiaries, 89 of whom work in the local production sector of handicrafts, 13 beneficiaries in the field of sewing and embroidery, and 12 beneficiaries from the administrative staff, with a fixed monthly income for women beneficiaries.

 

The project provides all handicraft resources, machinery, and equipment for the beneficiary artisans. It also supports the beneficiaries of widows, divorced women and families without a breadwinner. The project contributes to alleviating unemployment, encouraging the national and craft products, integrating vulnerable groups into society, holding events and marketing exhibitions for factory products, as well as establishing shops to sell products. Women also benefit from the Craft Lab project by making products inside the factory, and then marketing them through the coastal Sirhan Association. It also contributes to linking Yemeni women to the local market to ensure the project’s sustainability, and activate the economic participation of Yemeni women in economic recovery.

The UNESCO and SDRPY has also made efforts to preserve culture, including the celebration of the Mahri Language Day, which is held in one of the program’s educational schools in Al-Mahra governorate, as a contribution to raising and developing awareness toward cultural heritage, as well as to protect it from extinction.