In December 2014, Yemen’s then Minister of Culture Arwa Othman released a press statement in which she referred to Yemen’s Abyan governorate as being culturally “afflicted.” The minister’s statement was important. She wanted to draw attention to the role of culture in spreading tolerance and compassion in a country that has been wracked by instability and violence since 2011.

http://www.yementimes.com/en/1864/report/4932/Abyan-declared-%E2%80%98culturally-afflicted%E2%80%99.htm