health

Editor’s Note: This analysis first appeared in The Week in Yemen, the Sana’a Center’s weekly report series. During a meeting in Riyadh, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) discussed the implementation of the government’s 2026 program alongside projected state budget figures. The draft program—a copy of which was viewed by the Sana’a Center—is structured into three tiers: a situational assessment, the…

National dialogues have been used as instruments to resolve political crises and pave the way for political transitions and sustainable peace. They have emerged in the context of transitional countries struggling with complex legacies of violence and political instability, including Afghanistan, Mexico, Somalia, and Colombia. Since then, they have evolved into instruments used in a wider variety of national contexts…

— Testament of a local resident who witnessed the US raid on Yakla, Al-Bayda, in 2017. With its central location bordering eight other governorates, Al Bayda is considered one of Yemen's most important regions. It was on the frontline between North and South Yemen prior to unification in 1990. Its predominantly Shafi’i (Sunni) population had a history of conflict with…

Yemen’s energy sector is currently facing a severe crisis. For millions of Yemenis, accessing reliable electricity is a daily struggle, characterized by prolonged blackouts, limited fuel supplies, and deteriorating infrastructure, which in turn exacerbate the country's humanitarian conditions. This policy brief underscores the importance of a just and conflict-sensitive energy transition in Yemen, addressing the interconnected challenges of conflict, economic…

Historically relegated to the bottom of Yemen’s social hierarchy, the muhammasheen (marginalized ones) are a minority group that has endured decades of systematic marginalization and exclusion. The surge of activity by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) following Yemen’s 1990 unification brought greater attention to their struggle, leading to meaningful advocacy efforts from both local and international organizations and creating momentum for…

“Our main challenge as women in Yemen is simply the fact that we are women,” - Sahar Ghanem, Yemeni Ambassador to the Netherlands. “How can women have a strong presence [in diplomacy] when we aren’t in decision-making positions at all?” - Female Yemeni diplomat. The underrepresentation of women in Yemen’s political and public sphere existed before the war and has…

Education is often one of the greatest casualties of war. In Yemen, this reality is borne out by the thousands of damaged and destroyed schools, tens of thousands of child soldiers, hundreds of thousands of teachers working without regular pay, and millions of students out of school. Mere numbers, however, are not sufficient to encapsulate the true toll. A generation…

Yemen is experiencing a severe economic downturn as it tries to navigate long-term fiscal challenges. A World Bank report on Fiscal Vulnerabilities in Low-Income Countries released in late November highlighted Yemen’s dire fiscal situation as among the worst in the world. The World Bank’s Yemen Monitor for Spring 2024 noted that the current crisis is caused by plummeting oil and…

For decades, Yemen’s higher education system has been characterized by a persistent mismatch between graduates’ skills and the changing requirements of the market. The last labor force survey carried out in 2014 showed that less than one-third of Yemen’s labor force had secondary or tertiary education, and a qualification mismatch was found among some 83 percent of the employed population.…