EVENT
Accountability in times of war
Insights from Yemen
Join our online event on 3 September to learn about Yemen’s path to stronger accountability, current reforms, and insights from regional experiences.
Yemen has long faced challenges in ensuring transparency and effective oversight of state institutions. While important accountability processes started after the unification in 1990, some analysts have argued that these were merely copies of Western-style state institutions, and personal relationships and informal networks continued to distort the influence of formal institutional structures. Exacerbated by the current conflict, Yemen’s accountability structures have been further weakened.
As the funding landscape in Yemen is deteriorating, internal and external pressure to review and reform formal and informal accountability structures is rising. Earlier this year, the Presidential Leadership Council of the internationally recognised government of Yemen has announced efforts to reform accountability structures in the eleven governorates under its control. It issued a directive to restructure national institutions like SNACC (the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption), COCA (the Central Organisation for Control and Auditing), and HATC (the High Authority for Tender Control).
In this context, and based on insights from our latest publication Accountability mechanisms in Yemen, we will discuss what is needed on different levels and from various actors to support Yemen in its efforts to improve accountability structures. We will look at local practices in different governorates, get insights into the current vision for improving formal oversight bodies, and reflect more broadly on what Yemen can learn from other countries in the region.
Accountability in times of war
Insights from Yemen
3 September 2025
14:00 - 15:00 CEST
Online event via Zoom.
This event will be held in English with Arabic language interpretation.
Welcome remarks:
- Oliver Wils, Head of Department MENA Peace Support, Berghof Foundation
Input:
- Rafat Al-Akhali, Co-founder of DeepRoot Consulting and non-resident fellow of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs
Speakers:
- Nader Kabbani, Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Middle East Council on Global Affairs
- Afrah Abdulaziz Al Zoba, Economic Development and Governance Consultant
Moderated by Isabel Kleitsch, Senior Project Manager for Yemen and Sudan, Berghof Foundation.
Please note that the event will be recorded using the cloud-based recording tool within the Zoom.us platform (using cloud servers based in the U.S.), to be published on the Berghof Foundation’s website and social media channels for external communications purposes. You can find the Berghof Foundation’s data protection notice here. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Berghof Foundation's Data Protection Officer (data.protection@berghof-foundation.org).
Media contact
You can reach the press team at:
+49 (0) 177 7052758
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