Yemen
Since 2019, DCAF has worked to improve shared understanding with national, regional and international entities, in coordination with the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen (OSESGY).
DCAF’s programme in Yemen supports the formulation of a long-term vision for SSR and DDR with sequenced implementation phases that build on short-term security sector stabilisation efforts and interim security arrangements. DCAF’s most recent project in Yemen involved building trust and establishing strong connections between a high-level inclusive group of security actors that includes all parties to the conflict.
DCAF engages Yemeni society at four levels, focusing public deliberations over security matters in a strategic forum consisting of the core group of senior influencers, practitioners, and decision makers, established through the dialogues and activities in its first phase. It aims to expose perceptions of security needs and concerns of the Yemeni people to political decision makers to support the establishment of a framework for good governance and institutional accountability informed by broad consultation at the local level.
Workstreams/Projects
Consultations with key Yemeni stakeholders form an integral part of Yemen’s programme. These consultations not only inform the strategic direction taken by the programme, but also help create new opportunities and entry points for engagement and contribute to increasing the programme’s visibility at the highest level with the principal stakeholders and parties to the conflict.
DCAF’s project streamlined consultations not only with Yemeni stakeholders but also regional, multilateral and international stakeholders, given the nature of the conflict.
Informed by the consultations, DCAF’s dialogue fora is a platform to engage technically on key security issues. The main formats of dialogue sessions are organised under the umbrella of DCAF’s project in Yemen:
- Core Group dialogues focusing on discussing modalities of the transitional security needs and arrangements that would allow for progress towards peacebuilding, as well as the governance structures necessary to provide guarantees in the short-term, while laying the ground for longer-term SSR.
- Tribal sheikhs’ dialogues focusing on the requirements for a sustainable ceasefire and opportunities for implementation on the ground, both at the national level and the local communities.
- Given the importance of engaging at the local level to address the needs and concerns of local communities and to inform national level debates, DCAF has worked with local authorities with a major focus on the first phase of the project on Taiz Governorate.
Studies were commissioned throughout the project’s life cycle in support of consultations, dialogue sessions and capacity-development workshops held since September 2019. The following studies provided the most relevant inputs into the project:
- At the project’s inception, a Conflict Sensitivity Analysis and a Gender Assessment were conducted as mandated by the donor, providing a basis for self-assessments of DCAF’s engagement in Yemen throughout the project’s life cycle.
- DCAF commissioned a study titled “The Role of Security Sector Reforms in the Transition from Ceasefires to Peace Agreements: Lessons Learned.” This study provided stakeholders with an overview of comparative case studies of ceasefire mechanisms in other conflicts.
- Throughout the project’s implementation, DCAF has produced several studies on the existing security structures and conflict analyses.
- DCAF also provided local and international partners with regular commentary papers on specific aspects related to DCAF’s activities in Yemen.
Such studies provided participants and partners with avenues for reflection on the basis of concrete knowledge and expertise on best practices in SSR and SSG.
DCAF seeks to address key barriers to exclusion of women in Yemen’s peace and security dialogues and ensure that women leaders can acquire the knowledge and skills to influence peace dialogues in Yemen, focusing on SSG/R-relevant topics, transitional justice, and the WPS agenda.
DCAF seeks to understand how women-led interventions have made an impact on Yemen peacebuilding dialogues to date and take lessons learned to build strategies for leveraging opportunities for women to participate in international, national, and local dialogues relevant to SSG/R. DCAF will support Yemeni women to develop results-driven narratives that challenge traditional views of the security sector and women’s roles in it, and engage a broad range of societal decision makers in initiatives to put these ideas into practice.
PUBLICATIONS
Contacts
Khaldoon Bakahail, Senior Strategic Advisor and Coordinator for Yemen Programme (k.bakhail@dcaf.ch)
Jean Conte, Project Manager for Security Dialogues Programme (j.conte@dcaf.ch)
Muna Luqman, Gender and Inclusivity Adviser Programme (muna.luqman2010@gmail.com)
Beatrice Jotterned, Junior Officer