Organizational History

In February 1997, a group of Yemeni professionals founded SOUL out of their desire to achieve a higher quality of life for Yemeni women and children. The group had been inspired to take tangible action after a series of discussions beginning in October 1996 which sought to address some of the developmental problems of Yemeni society. They recognized Yemen’s status as a Least Developed Country, with the detrimental social statistics that are an inherent part of this developmental stage. They also realized that the Yemeni government was increasingly unable to provide services for the growing needs of the population on its own.

Furthermore, at that time the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the country were largely weak and unfocused – concentrating on charitable rather than developmental work. Many NGOs working in the field faced difficulties related to a weak organizational structure, disorganized work approach, scattered geographical coverage and a fundamental lack of professionalism and the requisite skills for development work. Therefore, there was a crying need for a new organization that could attempt to overcome many of these obstacles and effectively address the developmental needs of the population.

It was in this context that SOUL was born. The organization launched its activities with a mandate to provide and enhance the quality of services within the health, education and social development fields after obtaining the required license from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

SOUL is an independent NGO with no political, religious or ideological affiliations or leanings. In its quest to achieve a high standard of professionalism, SOUL drew up and implemented an institutional constitution to guide the long-term direction of the organization. Furthermore, SOUL developed a strategic plan to determine primary working goals and areas of focus which is revised every three years; more intensive short-term plans of action are developed on both a yearly and quarterly basis. Due to the democratic organization of SOUL, all members of our technical and operational teams participate in a collective effort to create a clear sense of mission and teamwork. For SOUL, the constitution and the values we work by are the very heart of our organization and we take great pride in them.