CURRENT PROJECT

Strengthening inclusive local governance and peacebuilding in Yemen

During a climate adaptation training for civil society organisations in Aden, the facilitator leads a field visit to Al‑Musabeen Farm, Dar Saad, Yemen.

The project supports mediation, local consultation, and stabilisation efforts in four Yemeni governorates and seeks to support dialogue and cooperation between central and local governance structures.

Timeframe: 2017 - 2027

The project supports mediation, local consultation, and stabilisation efforts in four Yemeni governorates – Hadhramawt, Al Mahra, Aden and Taiz – and seeks to ensure that local concerns and questions of local governance are sufficiently taken into account in Yemeni and international policymaking and in peace negotiations.

In each of the four governorates, the project supports inclusive consultative committees that complement the existing administrative structures and provide advice to the governors on stabilisation and peacebuilding needs and priorities.

The project also supports local peace initiatives in the project governorates and facilitates discussions and the uptake of evidence at international and national levels to generate political support for a more effective and inclusive local governance in Yemen.

Detailed timeframe

Phase I: May 2017 to December 2019 (implemented in Dhamar and Hadhramawt)

Phase II: January 2020 to December 2023 (implemented in Dhamar, Hadhramawt and Al Mahra)

Phase III: January 2024 to February 2026 (implemented in Hadhramawt, Al Mahra, Aden and Taiz)

Phase IV: March 2026 to August 2027 (implemented in Hadhramawt, Al Mahra, Aden and Taiz)

Background

Conflict Setting

The war in Yemen has been dragging on since the internationally supported transition process in Yemen broke down at the end of 2014. Since 2022, a de-facto truce is holding, freezing a situation of fragmentation and humanitarian crisis, weak state institutions, and fragmented local governance and service provision.

Questions of local governance and local service provision therefore loom large: if the war continues, dialogue, services, and a functioning policy process at the local level can help insulate Yemen’s citizens from the worst of its effects and safeguard increasingly fragile institutions. If a breakthrough in the peace process is achieved, functioning and inclusive local governance will be essential to make peace stick, by delivering a tangible peace dividend to citizens and by safeguarding local progress while a new government hashes out difficult compromises at the centre.

Local governance structures provide an entry point to help secure the necessary conditions for a peace process and to help make a peace agreement function in practice. In any scenario, the local authorities will play a key role in providing basic services to the local population.

Activities

The project activities fall under three main clusters:

Initiating and sustaining policy discussions: the project aims to mobilise political support at international, national and governorate level for structured dialogue and cooperation between central and local institutions in Yemen and to contribute to knowledge available to international and national policymakers and implementers to inform their programming.
Supporting inclusive consultations and dialogues in four Yemeni governorates: the project supports an inclusive consultative committee in each governorate that complements the existing administrative set up and advises the governors on stabilisation and peacebuilding priorities to effectively address local needs at governorate level.
Support to local mediation and peace initiatives: the project supports local initiatives by civil society actors and local authorities to respond to urgent mediation and stabilisation needs in the project governorates. We build on strong Yemeni mediation traditions to provide mediators with additional tools, skills, and support to restore services once conflicts are successfully mediated. We also directly support local authority efforts to improve public services and thereby address urgent local needs.

Partners and Funding

This project is implemented jointly with our long-standing Yemeni partner, the Political Development Forum (PDF) and is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

All of Berghof’s work in Yemen is closely coordinated with the Special Envoy’s Office.

Updates from this work: