The third Yemen Exchange conference, hosted by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies was held in Beirut, Lebanon, from June 26 to July 1, 2018.

In June, the Saudi-led military coalition and associated ground forces began their long-anticipated offensive against Houthi-held Hudaydah city. The ports of Hudaydah and nearby Saleef, along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, are the entry point for the majority of the country’s commercial and humanitarian imports. This creates the potential for catastrophic humanitarian fallout from the offensive given that 8.4 million Yemenis are already on the verge of famine. United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, spent most of June engaged…

The Yemen Development Champions discussed the latest developments in Hudaydah governorate while convening for the latest Development Champions Forum. The Champions are concerned by the impact of escalating military operations on the humanitarian situation in Yemen as a whole and Hudaydah governorate in specific; in addition to the damage that would be caused to vital economic infrastructure. The effect on the economic situation in the country would be catastrophic. Hudaydah governorate is the third most densely populated governorate in Yemen…

The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies is an independent think-tank that seeks to foster change through knowledge production with a focus on Yemen and the surrounding region. The Center’s publications and programs, offered in both Arabic and English, cover political, social, economic and security related developments, aiming to impact policy locally, regionally, and internationally. Founded in 2014, the Sana’a Center…

In May, Houthi forces were clearly on the defensive across most of Yemen, in particular losing ground in Hudaydah governorate as various anti-Houthi groups, backed by Emirati airpower, advanced on Hudaydah city. A Saudi-led coalition plan for a military offensive on the city last year was derailed due to a lack of US support and international outcry over the likelihood…

The ongoing conflict in Yemen has imposed grievous costs on the country’s people, damaging lives, property and infrastructure and ravaging the country’s already fragile economy. And yet the conflict will eventually subside. While some reconstruction projects have begun, they have generally been undertaken haphazardly and not as part of a comprehensive and structured plan. Post-conflict reconstruction following the war must address the basic needs and rights of the Yemeni population and put the country on the path toward sustainable peace…

Previous reconstruction efforts in Yemen following conflict or natural disaster have suffered from lack of coordination with and unrealistic expectations from international donors, as well as the Yemeni government’s limited capacity for aid absorption and project implementation; as a result, there was little tangible long-term impact. In light of lessons learned from similar post-conflict contexts and Yemen’s own history of reconstruction efforts, this policy brief proposes an institutional structure for a future reconstruction process in Yemen: a permanent, independent, public…

Yemen The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies announces immediate openings for research interns based inside Yemen. The Sana’a Center will produce policy papers regarding post-conflict state building that would provide a reliable source of information to guide the strategic policy-making related to Yemen. The interns will have the opportunity to be part of this project and work closely with the…

In April, Saleh Ali al-Samad, a senior Houthi official and the head of the Supreme Political Council in Sana’a, was killed by an air-to-ground missile strike in Hudaydah city. Al-Samad was one of the most prominent political figures within the Houthi leadership structure and is the group’s most senior member to have been killed thus far in the conflict. His death will likely have far reaching implications for both the Houthis and the UN’s renewed mediation efforts to end the…