Yemeni Voices and Solutions Emerge from First-Ever Yemen International Forum

2022-06-19

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Support for a host of potential approaches to overcome economic and political impasses and ease the way for a negotiated end to Yemen’s protracted war emerged throughout the Yemen International Forum 2022, which closed Sunday in Stockholm.

Parallel meetings at the YIF, organized by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies in cooperation with the Folke Bernadotte Academy, also brought together experts and leaders in the financial and banking sector from across Yemen. These meetings focused on some of the most critical issues facing Yemeni banks and the private sector, and their negative ramifications for Yemeni citizens.

The dynamic technical discussions tackled Yemen’s currency market and divergent exchange rates, liquidity challenges, strengthening compliance and anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing measures, efforts to restore Yemen’s international banking relations and ways to address public debt in Yemen. During these talks, participants sought to build a consensus on potential solutions and recommend processes for various stakeholders to pursue.

More than 250 participants took part in the Yemeni-led in-depth conversations at the YIF 2022, including local and international political and economic experts and mediators as well as many Yemeni civil society actors.

“We tried to dedicate this forum as a platform for all voices, especially those who were shut down and marginalized as the conflict intensified,” Sana’a Center chairman Farea al-Muslimi said in closing remarks to participants. “What have we achieved during this record time? We will certainly not reach final and successful solutions, but we have accomplished a preliminary, serious rehearsal for a comprehensive and Yemeni-led dialogue process.”

Sunday’s sessions included conversations with several of Yemen’s southern leaders, who spoke of the need to advance intra-southern dialogue, which could help toward the meaningful inclusion of southern issues in the peace process.

Other discussions centered on public-and private-sector business challenges, accountability within the security sector, the shifting political landscape and the sensitive issue of when and how to include justice and reconciliation within the peace process.

Special sessions included an update from the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, on the FSO Safer facility that poses an environmental threat to the Red Sea.

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 Arabic and English, cover political, social, economic and security developments, aiming to impact policy locally, regionally and internationally.

For media inquiries, please contact: [email protected]