A/HRC/45/CRP.7 142. In Yemen, domestic water collection is primarily the responsibility of women and girls, even more so given the conflict-related increase in female-led households. The disruption of piped water supplies places an increased burden on women and girls to travel further for water and thus exposes them to increased risk of harm and direct violence from the conflicting parties. Additionally, it also risks long-term consequences on women and girls in other respects, for example girls’ access to education. The previous development of such water supplies in Yemen has been shown to correlate with greater school attendance for girls.185 143. Similar to this inability to access water, many areas of Yemen also suffer from a lack of electricity or intermittent electricity at best.186 Interviewees complained of unreliable access to electricity. In Aden, the availability of electricity varies from district to district, some receiving it on and off every 3-4 hours and others receiving electricity only for a few hours a day or every few days. This has led to a deterioration in peoples’ ability to store food, in particular protein items such as fresh meat, and has negatively impacted on fishing communities’ ability to refrigerate produce, further decreasing the food supply and affecting markets. The unpredictable electricity supply severely compromises the already strained health care system. 144. Other policies have contributed to a substantial decline in the already marginal purchasing power of Yemenis. The dual Central Bank System, which has limited Yemenis’ access to cash since 2016, has resulted in the creation and regulation of alternative currencies, and has further destabilised the economy. For example, the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) relocated to Aden by President Hadi in 2016 began printing new bills while the Central Bank in Sana’a also printed new bills. This complicated an already strained exchange system in Yemen, further devaluing the Yemeni Riyal and contributing to depreciation, inflation, and the black market. The complications reached new heights in December 2019, when the de facto authorities banned the use of the bills newly printed by CBY Aden in their territories. The dual currencies also resulted in increased fees for money transfers. For example, even as between March to May 2020, the same amount of money, say, 30,000 Riyals, cost an additional 1,950 Riyals more to send from Aden to Sana’a (March: 3,450 Riyals and May: 5,400 Riyals).187 145. The Group has previously reported on the irregular payment or non-payment of salaries to civil servants since 2016.188 Some delays in the disbursement of salaries by the Government of Yemen were still being reported in 2020, including irregular public sector salary payments in the southern governorates and no salary payments in the north. The failure of the Government of Yemen to pay these salaries, as well as the way in which it is paying the salaries at infrequent times, is forcing some working Yemenis and their families further into poverty and compromising their rights to work, health, standard of living, education and even life. For instance, one employee of the Government of Yemen Ministry of Education told the Group that he had not received any salary between 2015-2018.189 Another stated he had not received any salary from March 2018 until now,190 while other employees told the Group that their salary was intermittent (i.e. when they did receive a salary, it would be one salary payment for every 3-6 month period). In the north, the absence of salary payments to school principals and teachers in particular was found by the Group to be a driving factor that enabled Houthi child recruitment in schools (see paras 282 and ff). The devaluation of the Yemeni Riyal has further diminished the real value of those salaries that are received. One government minister explained that his monthly net salary was the equivalent of 185 Narrowing the Gender Gap in Yemen: A Gender Analysis International Rescue Committee 2019 https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/finalyemengenderassessmentreport2020.pdf htt ps://ceobs.org/international-womens-day-2020-women-war-and-water-in-yemen/ ; Situation Analysis of Gender and Development in Yemen, Marta Colburn 2002; infra. paras. 147, 189. 186 Confidential sources on file. 187 See receipts from confidential source on file. See also other interview with confidential source on file. 188 See, for instance, A/HRC/42/CRP.1, para. 797. 189 Confidential source on file. 190 Confidential source on file. 41