An Integrated, Multi-Level Approach to Peacebuilding in Yemen

After the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) started in 2012, the peace process in Yemen could not yield long-lasting results and the country ended up fighting a civil war on top of the economic and humanitarian crises it was already going through. Since 2015, Yemen is at open war, as actors at national and local level fight each other for control of the country. Governments across the world have been supporting different sides, making a peaceful political resolution even more difficult. International development and humanitarian actors try to support the process as well as the Yemeni population, by supporting Yemeni actors to build a dialogue-oriented process.

The Berghof Foundation, in collaboration with the Political Development Forum – Yemen (PDF-Yemen), have been supporting the peace process in Yemen since 2021 at the request of the NDC. The two organisations aim at supporting Yemeni actors from national to local level to address the root causes and contributing factors. Their approach builds different actors’ and parties’ technical, strategic and process-related capacity to continue negotiating to find a peaceful solution. The multi-level capacity-building and knowledge-sharing work is implemented in the framework of three thematic workstreams: supporting Yemeni-led inclusive political dialogue on the peace process at national, regional and local levels, supporting inclusive local governance and more effective service provision and improving citizens’ sense of safety and fostering a relationship of trust and cooperation between citizens and local security forces.

Specifically, at national level, the Berghof Foundation and PDF-Yemen are supporting actors to identify a peaceful, political solution to the conflict and to ensure inclusive political dialogue to do so. At local level, they support multi-party consultations and youth dialogues in several cities. The aim is to find solutions to local challenges and empower local actors to support the peace process. The two organisations not only work with Yemeni actors, but also include regional and international actors into the process. At regional level, they organise exchanges with relevant actors in the region around Yemen, such as Oman and Kuwait, to foster an enabling environment for peaceful solutions. At international level, they aim at facilitating coordinated and complementary efforts to support the Yemeni peace process.

To learn more about the Berghof Foundation’s program to support integrated, multi-level conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes as well as links to individual projects, click here.