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The Berghof Foundation has been working with local authorities and the central administration(s) in Yemen since 2017 to strengthen inclusive local governance, support the resolution of local conflicts, and ensure that key concerns from the local level feed into central policy-making and the peace process. This working paper contributes to these overall goals by exploring how local governance is changing in the areas under Ansar Allah’s control. Subsequent papers will explore local-level changes in other parts of Yemen, notably in Aden and Hadhramawt. The peace process will need to take these ongoing changes into account.

• Year2020
• Author(s)Joshua Rogers

In this review of 2019, we want to present a concise picture of our work, using one example from each region to highlight the wide variety of approaches we take to try to transform conflict.

• Year2020

This mapping outlines the situation faced by the population in all 22 governorates of Yemen. We see this as a working draft and welcome any additions, corrections, or comments you might have.

The mapping highlights the economic activities and resources that remain available and introduces the local administration and the situation of the local council in each governorate. It explores the extent to which different institutions of local authority — local councils, executive offices, and governors’ offices — continue to perform their mandates, and provides an overview of the availability of basic services, especially in the health, education, and water and sanitation sectors. The mapping is based on the review and analysis of documents, statistics, and official reports by Yemeni and international organizations, published studies and research, and interviews with local leaders in the governorates.

• Year2020

The annual report will present you with an insight into the broad spectrum of our work in 2018.

• Year2019

Over the course of several years, the Berghof Foundation and the Political Development Forum (PDF) have focused on strengthening inclusive local governance in Yemen. This work focuses both at the local level in Hadhramawt and Dhamar and at the national level, to improve inclusivity, relaunch the local political process, and engage a broad range of stakeholders in discussions about the current challenges and potential future shape of local governance arrangements in Yemen.

• Year2019
• Author(s)Joshua Rogers

• Year2018
• Author(s)Oliver Wils, Sonja Neuweiler

Governance systems differ from one state to another depending on the politics in each state, its social, economic and cultural development, and other historical factors. Symmetry in the form and content of relations between local governance units, or between units and central authority, is rare. Local governance embodies decentralization, and is essentially a system that allows citizens to run their own local affairs. It should therefore be based on a set of principles and objectives as preconditions for applying decentralization and the goals for local governance set by the state and local communities.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Abdul-Raqib Fatih

This paper, by an academic and political activist in Sana'a, will shed light on the resources available to local authorities in the Republic of Yemen, highlight the constraints on revenue collection, and propose how to address them and develop Yemeni local authority revenue streams.

This paper relies on a number of references – listed at the bottom – as well as various meetings with academics, researchers and specialists to enrich the ideas it discusses.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Anonymous

This paper on the local governance experiment in Yemen seeks to review its past developmental stages and current reality. It includes governorates still under the war’s impact, as well as and those no longer affected by war, but still facing major challenges to reinforcing stability.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Badr Basalmah

The aim of this paper is to describe the reality of local authority legislation in Yemen, underline its strengths and weaknesses, identify the main obstacles to its implementation, and present suggestions for improving it. To attain these objectives, an integrated approach was followed based on the review and analysis of existing literature and official documents, as well as one-on-one interviews with a number of public administration leaders at central and local levels.

• Year2018
• Author(s)Ahmed Mohamed Al-Mawari