“Local Security Governance in Yemen in Times of War: The Cases of al-Hudayda, Ta‘iz and Aden’”

The Yemen Policy Center (YPC) is pleased to invite you to a virtual discussion,

“Local Security Governance in Yemen in Times of War: The Cases of al-Hudayda, Ta‘iz and Aden’”
on April 21nd, 2021, from 14.00-15.30 CET  

(8:00-9:30 EST; 13:00-14:30 BST)

After six years of war, Yemen and its state institutions have undergone dramatic changes, having fragmented along multiple fault lines. Between April 2020 and November 2020, the Yemen Policy Center with the support of CARPO researched local security structures in Yemen, conducting interviews with over a hundred security officials, security experts, civil society figures and journalists. With Ansar Allah consolidating its control over much of the state, systematically weakening tribal structures and using security forces to crush any space for dissent or opposition, the already porous boundary between state and non-state actors has completely crumbled while national-level politics has suddenly become ineffective, with old elites fleeing the country, national institutions falling under the control of Ansar Allah or becoming impaired, with territory becoming increasingly divided.

Given their role as the security governance structure’s central nodes, this report explores governorate-level Security Committees in three governorates that have been particularly affected by violence and institutional fragmentation: Ta‘iz, al-Hudayda and Aden. As well as seeking to understand the institutional set-up and functions of the Committees, this research looks at how the Committees have evolved in the context of state fragmentation and what, if any, capacities they have to play a potential role in local-level mediation (for instance, regarding humanitarian access) or transitional security governance arrangements. The study looks at the state of security institutions at the local level, and how state disintegration processes are reflected in governorate and district-level institutions.

To discuss the report, please join us for a virtual panel discussion on Yemen’s Security Committee’s with:

Hafez Albukari, President of the Yemen Polling Center.

Mohamed al-Iriani, a research fellow at the Yemen Policy Center.

Maged Sultan, a consultant for the Yemen Policy Center and Chairman of Youth Without Borders Organisation for Development.

Mareike Transfeld, the Director of the Yemen Policy Center.

Dr. Marie-Christine Heinze, President of CARPO.

Register for the event here.