Economic

Yemen Review section April 9, 2024 06:15 MIN Quarterly: January-March 2024 Crafting a Police State: Houthis Tighten Grip Amid Red Sea Attacks By Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen As the world’s attention is drawn to developments in the Red Sea, the impact of Houthi attacks on the global economy and the peace process in Yemen, and the risks of further escalation and wide repercussions for Yemen’s domestic landscape, should not be overlooked. The Houthis' involvement in the Gaza war has fundamentally changed the course of events as the group tries to fully exploit this opportunity. Yemenis of all factions have strong sympathy and unequivocal support for the Palestinian cause. This has facilitated the Houthis’ decision to involve themselves in the ongoing Gaza war. The group has used the war as an opportunity to consolidate its power domestically, especially since it broke out at a time when they were… Continue reading Yemen Review section April 9, 2024 10:43 MIN Quarterly: January-March 2024 Al-Aqsa Flood and the Battle of the Promised Conquest: How the Houthis Mobilize Popular Support By Nasr Rushdi Since day one, the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) has openly supported and praised the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by Hamas on October 7. The group has pledged its full support to the Palestinian resistance in its war against the Israeli army, which is waging a military campaign in the Gaza Strip aimed at dismantling Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions. The Houthi stance on the Gaza war has reverberated domestically within areas under their control. The group has unequivocally embraced religious rhetoric in support of Palestine and the Palestinian resistance through official media outlets, which are largely influenced by or affiliated with the Houthis. Local radio channels have adjusted their program schedules, airing political songs in support of Palestine and… Continue reading Main Publications March 24, 2024 09:09 MIN Engaging Victims in Peace-Making and Transitional Justice in Yemen By Marta Mendes, and Yazeed Al-Jeddawy We reject any political process that ignores our call for justice, or that seeks to compromise our demands in exchange for so-called political stability. Sustainable and lasting peace can only be achieved by welcoming reconciliation through justice. The Yemen Declaration for Justice and Reconciliation (2023) The overwhelming majority of Yemenis today are victims of an almost decade-long war. More than 370,000 lives have been lost, thousands detained, and millions displaced. On top of those directly impacted by the scourges of war, the psychological harm, deprivation of infrastructure and basic services, collapse of the health and educational systems, and the economic and social impact have led to a sense of collective grievance among Yemenis, many of whom believe that lasting peace… Continue reading News March 22, 2024 02:13 MIN Sana’a Center Delegation Meets Policymakers in the US A Sana’a Center delegation completed a policy tour to Washington DC and New York on March 14, where they met with US policymakers and UN member state representatives to discuss political and security developments in Yemen and the region. The visits coincide with the US assessing the repercussions of designating the Houthis (Ansar Allah) a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group. While some policymakers believe this reclassification will obstruct the peace process and worsen the humanitarian situation for Yemenis, others are pushing to have the Houthis listed as a fully-fledged terrorist organization. Throughout the two weeks, the Sana’a Center’s senior representatives discussed the broad range of options for approaching the unabated Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. "Yemen is at a… Continue reading Main Publications March 21, 2024 31:19 MIN The Impact of Flooding on Agricultural Communities in Yemen By Musaed Aklan Yemen's agricultural communities face a perfect storm of growing ecological threats amid protracted conflict. Flash floods destroy farms, crops, and irrigation systems. Late rains risk drowning mature harvests, and waterlogged fields hinder root growth. Coastal areas battle salinization, and collapsed roads and buried wells hamper recovery. As flooding and changing rainfall patterns undermine yields, farmers struggle to sustain their livelihoods. Over half of Yemen's population is dependent on farming and agricultural work for income. Terrain altered by flooding has stirred tensions as property lines and irrigation channels shift, displacing communities already uprooted by the war. Traditional flood management faces pressure from uncoordinated development and fading communal cooperation, and information gaps persist due to outdated estimates and limited monitoring capacity. Stakeholders… Continue reading Main Publications March 20, 2024 19:06 MIN A War of Attrition: Higher Education in Yemen By Fahmi Khaled The war has broken many of the basic elements of Yemeni society — but the legacy of its now-shattered higher education system will endure far beyond the cessation of hostilities. Unpaid salaries, plummeting enrollment, and unregulated privatization have eroded the quality of Yemen’s higher education system and left it teetering on the brink of collapse. The consequences of this collapse are far-reaching, for educators, students, and the country at large, with economic and social effects that will be felt far into the future. Academics are struggling to cope with the basic costs of living without regular salary payments, and some have been forced to seek alternative employment not considered commensurate with their educational background and social status. As teachers have… Continue reading News March 18, 2024 01:30 MIN Development Report Launch Concludes in Amman, Jordan On March 14, 2024, the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies announced the launch of its latest report, titled "Development is Coming: Be Careful What You Wish For." This report is part of a series of publications which aim to assess the aid sector in Yemen, "Applying Economic Lenses and Local Perspectives to Improve Humanitarian Aid Delivery in Yemen," a project which is directed by the Sana’a Center and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). The report launch was hosted by the Swiss Embassy in Amman, Jordan. This analysis, which was led by researchers Alex Harper, Dr. Nadia Al- Sakkaf, and Joel Thorpe, focused on the shifting approaches to aid operations in Yemen from emergency to long-term and… Continue reading Main Publications March 8, 2024 47:08 MIN Development is Coming: Be Careful What You Wish For By Dr. Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Alex Harper, and Joel Thorpe Since 2021, Yemenis have become more strident in their calls for new and better ways of providing aid. Yemeni experts have warned that prolonged cycles of short-term humanitarian aid can entrench dependence and have called for a transition toward development approaches that could set the foundation for a sustainable post-conflict economy. Despite vastly different interpretations and positions over what development means in practice, this shift is now happening, albeit slowly. New frameworks and coordination mechanisms are emerging from the UN compound in Sana’a, the World Bank offices in Amman's Abdali Boulevard, and the conference rooms of Riyadh and Brussels, which are set to fundamentally change the way aid is delivered in Yemen over the coming decade. The effect of these… Continue reading Analysis February 21, 2024 28:54 MIN Yemen’s Vulnerability to Climate Change: How to Strengthen Adaptation By Helen Lackner This policy brief summarizes the environmental issues Yemen faces and outlines policy and technical responses to limit their impact. These include environmental problems caused by the absence of state intervention or by misguided policies, and those that are symptoms of global warming, pointing out the frequent synergy between them. Yemen, like other developing countries, suffers the consequences of climate change while having insignificant responsibility for causing them. Water scarcity is Yemen’s major environmental problem, which demands urgent attention. Other environmental issues include the deterioration of ecosystems, oil related and other pollution, sanitation issues, waste disposal, fisheries, and rising sea levels. The problems are due to a synergy between human interventions and external global warming features. In the course of earlier… Continue reading Main Publications February 20, 2024 20:32 MIN Safeguarding a Dying Practice: The Role of Shabwani Women in Tribal Mediation and Reconciliation By Samah AlKhader This study explores the rich tradition in tribal mediation and reconciliation work carried out by women in Shabwa, charting their role in resolving family-related disputes as well as larger political conflicts. It argues that despite the prevalence of female mediation in Shabwa today, such practices are on the decline, and find little resonance with the younger generation of Shabwani women, many of whom believe that tribal customs, and accompanying tribal roles, limit their horizons and are unsuited to modern-day life. The advent of war has also brought about new dynamics that further threaten the role of women in mediation and reconciliation, including the emboldenment of patriarchy and the ensuant regression in women’s rights and social roles over the years. Given… Continue reading The Yemen Review February 15, 2024 42:27 MIN The Yemen Annual Review 2023 Peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) dominated Yemeni politics over the last year. The negotiations began as backchannel discussions in October 2022 after the Houthis resisted UN pressure to renew a truce first agreed in April 2022 by making a series of eleventh-hour demands. The talks continued despite Houthi attacks on oil terminals in southern Yemen in late 2022 that effectively put the internationally recognized government under a form of economic blockade. As the months progressed, the government’s increasingly dire economic situation pressured it to accept the Saudi policy of seeking a settlement with Houthi authorities, seemingly at almost any price. The broad terms of a Saudi-Houthi agreement first became public in January, when international… Continue reading Analysis January 12, 2024 08:04 MIN US and UK Strike Houthi Targets in Yemen: Reaction from Sana’a Center Experts By Abdulghani Al-Iryani, Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen, Hussam Radman, Maged Al-Madhaji, and Bilqees Al-Lahbi The United States and Britain carried out air and missile strikes against Houthi targets in the early hours of January 12, following two months of Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The maritime attacks caused major shippers to reroute, disrupting international commerce and threatening a new round of global inflation. The airstrikes appear to have struck targets in Sana’a, Sa’ada, Hajjah, Hudayadh, and Taiz governorates. Houthi authorities said five people were killed and six wounded, and vowed to continue Red Sea operations as long as Israel’s war on Gaza continues. The United States has accused Iran of providing the military capabilities and intelligence behind the Houthi attacks. The US-UK action was supported militarily by Australia, Bahrain, Canada,… Continue reading