Peacebuilding and State Building in Yemen

CARPO is partner in a project on ‘Academic Approaches to Peace-building and State Building in Yemen’ at the University of Bonn, together with the Gender-Development Research & Studies Center at the University of Sanaa. The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service in the framework of its Transformation Partnership. The project’s objective is to investigate and support peacebuilding and statebuilding initiatives in post-conflict Yemen from an academic perspective and thus a) to support and strengthen the work of practitioners and policy-makers in the country through the provision of expertise; and b) to build the respective expertise in Yemeni and German academia to support and critically accompany a). Outputs of this project will be one workshop, one summer school and one conference per year as well as pertinent policy papers, to be published through CARPO.

Duration: March 2016 – December 2018

Partners:
Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of Bonn
Gender-Development Research & Studies Center at the University of Sanaa

Publications:

Imagining an Alternative Homeland. Humanism in Contemporary Yemeni Novels

by Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi

This Study presents insights into alternative values and visions offered to society by leading contemporary Yemeni novelists with the aim of laying the basis for a better future of their country. CARPO Associate Fellow Abdulsalam al-Rubaidi analyzes six contemporary Yemeni novels, each of which is built around widely debated issues in Yemen, revolving around three main categories: regionalism, religious affiliations, and race. The Study identifies a multidimensional humanistic space as the ultimate goal of literary narration – a vision which is based on love, respect, recognition, rationality, openness, environmental awareness and orientation towards peace.

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Recognizing the Primacy of Politics in UN Peacebuilding

by Andrea Warnecke

This CARPO Study scrutinizes the dichotomy between the political and non-political parts of the UN system and asks whether the UN system can conduct peacebuilding in contested intra-state settings irrespective of Security Council backing. It argues that the UN’s perennial pre-occupation with improving peacebuilding coherence across its bodies is bound up with the attempt to project greater political leverage vis-à-vis host state governments. The quest for peacebuilding reform has recently come full circle by acknowledging the fundamental dilemma of conducting intra-state peacebuilding in ‘non-cooperative’ environments as a challenge to be addressed at the political level of inter-governmental cooperation rather than through the non-political parts of the UN.

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Working Paper: Bridging the Relief to Rehabilitation Gap in Yemen. A Conversation with National and International Experts

herausgegeben von Andrea Warnecke and Bilkis Zabara

This publication is an output of our 2018 summer school, which introduced students to the theory and practice of linking relief, reconstruction, and peacebuilding efforts in Yemen in light of the ongoing war. As the fighting and airstrikes in Yemen have continued unabatedly, several international governmental and non-governmental organizations have had to reconsider their approaches to delivering aid during war. In particular, humanitarian aid and assistance have at times been politicized by the warring parties or altogether withheld by denying access to areas most at risk. At the same time, a number of parties to the internationalized war in Yemen simultaneously act as humanitarian donors, throwing into question the degree to which such aid adheres to the traditional humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, and neutrality. In four essays, the participating students discuss the politics of relief and reconstruction; security in Yemen; justice, reconciliation and the political framework; and the socio-economic framework.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Yemeni Children as a Consequence of the Ongoing War

by Fawziah al-Ammar

This CARPO Brief summarizes initial findings of the author’s research among displaced school children in Sana‘a in spring 2016, based on the internationally recognized Child PTSD Symptoms Scale (CPSS). It finds that they have been experiencing severe symptoms of PTSD since the breakout of violent conflict and war and that the rates of PTSD experience are higher compared to results from similar studies in other countries going through conflict. It thus concludes that Yemeni school children are in dire need of help to overcome the difficulties they might face in the future and provides respective recommendations.

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Enhancing Women’s Role in Water Management in Yemen

by Bilkis Zabara

This CARPO Brief addresses the relationship between gender and natural resources in conflict-affected Yemen. It describes the impact of the war on women’s access to water resources and sanitation facilities and analyzes the role of women in decision-making and water-distribution processes. It finds that the involvement of women at all levels of water management and governance is of utmost importance if the access to water as a basic human right is to be guaranteed and provides respective recommendations.

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Working Paper: Knowledge in Peacebuilding: Elements, Production, Dissemination

edited by Marie-Christine Heinze and Bilkis Zabara

This publication is the result of a summer school entitled “Academic Approaches to Peacebuilding in Yemen” held in Amman, Jordan, in September 2016, which brought together advanced academics from the University of Bonn and the Gender-Development Research & Studies Center at Sanaa University as well as MA and PhD students from Yemen and Germany. In an exercise over the course of two mornings, the student participants, led by the editors of this paper, developed recommendations for researchers and policy-makers on how best to approach, implement and present research on peacebuilding in societies in conflict. The exercise aimed to achieve two objectives: a) to develop a guide for young researchers, NGOs and policy-makers involved in generating knowledge on and for peace-building processes; and b) to subject the summer school participants to a intercultural / inter-academic writing and learning process in which a German and a Yemeni student teamed up to produce one recommendation. This paper is the result of this exercise.

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Returning to Transitional Justice in Yemen. A Backgrounder on the Commission on the Forcibly Retired in the Southern Governorates

by Jens Kambeck

This CARPO Report focuses on the work of the Commission on the Forcibly Retired in the Southern Governorates, which was established in the framework of the GCC Initiative. The author argues that if the unity of Yemen is to be preserved, the only path forward is to take concrete and earnest steps to rebuild trust between North and South through transitional justice, once the ongoing war has come to an end. Such a trust-building process can—amongst others—build on the work of the Commission presented here. The CARPO Report thus concludes with respective recommendations.

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Publications:

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