اقرأ المحتوى باللغة العربية
Mukalla, Yemen – The Yemen Peace Forum (YPF) concluded its four-day event which brought together a select group of Yemeni youth and civil society actors with the aim to amplify their voices by creating a parallel process for their views and insights to be channeled into Yemen’s peace negotiations.
The YPF is a Track II youth and civil society platform facilitated by the Sana’a Center that seeks to build and empower the next generation of Yemeni policy makers to engage in critical national issues.
The two separate workshops were held in the city of Mukalla between July 26 and July 29, 2021, bringing together over 30 participants hailing from all over Yemen.
Civil society representatives attended sessions discussing the roles of NGOs in resolving the conflicts, the obstacles and challenges they’ve encountered, as well as the tools of organizational management and fundraising.
Youth representatives participated in sessions focused on the role of youth and youth initiatives in the current situation and in building peace in Yemen, as well as training in research and writing policy briefs to help guide participants on ways to voice their priorities and advocate for issues within their communities.
Both groups met virtually with Yemeni officials as well as representatives from the UN Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen to communicate their concerns and to provide feedback from the ground up on what they view as the most pressing issues facing Yemen and Yemenis.
Sana’a Center Director of Research Yasmeen al-Eryani, Researcher Bilqees al-Lahabi and Chairperson Farea al-Muslimi led the workshops and conducted one-on-one mentorship sessions to the attendees.
“This program demonstrates our ultimate commitment towards empowering Yemeni voices, investing in the next generation of Yemeni analysts and empowering local narratives while lending our model to other Yemeni organizations. We are proud of what this program has achieved and humbled by the opportunity to work with exceptional Yemeni youth,” noted Al-Muslimi.
The YPF program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.