Eight years of armed conflict have led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis unfolding in Yemen, a country divided between the Houthi-controlled north and the internationally recognised government in the south. Negotiations on the future of Yemen are unfolding on shaky foundations, as the concerns and aspirations of the Yemeni people, including youth, civil society, and women, are not taken adequately into account.

Interpeace’s engagement in Yemen is motivated by the recognition that civil society initiatives are fragmented, that efforts for peace at the grass-roots level lack coherence, and that the voices of young people in particular are excluded from shaping Yemen’s national policies. Since the launch of its programme, Interpeace has focused on two complementary engagements:

1. Together with its partner, Youth Without Borders, Interpeace has worked to address the fragmentation of civil society actors by fostering a shared understanding of community resilience.
2. Interpeace is supporting the establishment of an infrastructure for peace, specifically a National Steering Committee (NSC) with the mandate to institutionalise peace in Yemen.

In 2023, Interpeace facilitated the formation of the National Steering Committee, a component of peace infrastructure tasked with the mission to institutionalise peace in Yemen. Comprising 15 distinguished individuals representing diverse backgrounds from across Yemen, the committee engaged in a series of dialogue sessions, country exchange visits and stakeholder consultations to lay the groundwork for establishing a domestic peace infrastructure. Leveraging its expertise in international peacebuilding, Interpeace plays a pivotal role in enhancing the capacity of NSC members, whose primary mandate is to formulate a comprehensive roadmap for peace in Yemen, which will serve as a crucial framework for navigating the post-conflict period.

Interpeace organised country visits to Rwanda and Kenya, designed to provide NSC members with insights into the reconstruction of peace infrastructures in other nations following periods of conflict and war. These visits are vital components of Interpeace’s support strategy, with the organisation crafting agendas and identifying pertinent entities, institutions and stakeholders for the NSC members to engage with, ensuring relevance and benefit within the Yemeni context.