Our June 2015 newsletter from Yemen appeared on reliefweb.int. To download a .pdf version, click here.
Just a few months after the establishment of Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in Yemen in October 2010, a youth-led revolution erupted, sending waves of change and beginning the process of reshaping the country. Now, as the situation in Yemen continues to evolve, SFCG is still striving for peace and stability even amid new challenges. Recently, as political actors failed to reach an agreement that could produce a durable solution to Yemen’s political crisis, regional powers intervened militarily in Yemen, creating new realities on the ground and bringing about a new phase of unprecedented violence and instability.
The military operations launched by the Saudi-led coalition in April 2015, compounded with ongoing violence between the Houthis and other domestic factions, are threats to Yemen’s already underdeveloped infrastructure, civilian livelihood, and the social fabric of the country itself. With the fragile coexistence of various social, religious, and political groups in danger of becoming a full-scale civil war, Yemenis are left asking themselves if their country will ever be the same again.
Amid these developments, SFCG-Yemen continues to support peace by empowering local communities to set aside their differences and seek common ground, building peace from the bottom up. Facilitating dialogue and maintaining communication among Yemen’s various social groups is at the heart of SFCG’s activities in Yemen. We do this by combining community level, youth-led outreach activities with creative media tools. By enabling youth leaders to facilitate conflict transformation processes within their own communities, we enhance their role as future peacebuilders and provide them with a purpose, reducing their vulnerability of being recruited by violent groups. Furthermore, as providing humanitarian assistance to Yemen becomes a critical priority, SFCG is expanding its efforts to ensure that aid is distributed in a conflict-sensitive way and not contributing to the escalation of existing community tensions.
Operating within the current turmoil in Yemen is not easy, and above all requires unwavering commitment to peace. SFCG-Yemen’s dedicated staff consists entirely of Yemeni nationals, and is supported by a strong network of active local partners and skilled local facilitators who have been cultivated over the past five years. As donor priorities change, we believe that while Yemen is in need of all forms of development assistance, including humanitarian aid, achieving lasting, sustainable peace is what is needed the most.