Commentary: Yemen is where the resilience of the Iran-Saudi deal will be tested
Developments in Yemen over the last days do not augur well for the 10 March Iran-Saudi Arabia normalisation deal, writes commonspace.eu in this commentary, writing that "it is in Yemen where the biggest test for the resilience of the Beijing agreement will come, sooner rather than later." On 10 March in Beijing, Iran and Saudi Arabia together with China signed an agreement that amongst other things provides for the restoration of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh. The agreement has many other provisions, and remains confidential, but it is widely understood that it contains provisions for lessening tensions in the region and taking the heat out of some hotspots where the two regional powers continue to look each other in the eye. Yemen invariably is at the top of the agenda.
patrickn97
Tue, 03/28/2023 - 12:37
Healthcare in Yemen: realities in wartime and prospects for peacetime
In this piece for commonspace.eu, Samar Al-tashi discusses the desperate current state of the healthcare system in wartime Yemen, and offers some prospects and recommendations for the healthcare system in peacetime, stressing its importance in the post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
patrickn97
Wed, 03/22/2023 - 07:35
Deteriorating education: the dark legacy of Yemen’s war
The war in Yemen has had a severe impact on the learning, and general cognitive and emotional development of the younger generation, writes Shaima Ameen Abdullah for commonspace.eu. "In light of the polarisations that the country is experiencing, there is a need for a clear vision and an effective strategy in setting priorities for reforming the educational process in accordance with the country's circumstances and the available capabilities, especially in stable areas where more reform is possible," she adds. "Radical changes must be made in the essence of the educational process and its system, starting with reforming the goals, objectives and educational philosophy, but also addressing expected educational outcomes and the prospects of education. Such changes must match the needs for Yemeni society and the next generations. One of the key actions in this vein is to allocate more government budget for the development of education and making the curriculum and educational approach neutral and unbiased."
patrickn97
Mon, 03/20/2023 - 05:00
Opinion: the role of women in the Yemen peace process
"Women can make a valuable and multifaceted contribution to the peace process in Yemen, whether it be national or local, political or societal," argues Nuha Al-Junaid in this piece for commonspace.eu.
patrickn97
Wed, 03/15/2023 - 23:00
Yemen’s complex war: caught between religious ideology and geopolitical conflict
The Yemen crisis has become one of the most complex crises in our modern era. It is a crisis in which various circumstances and causes combine in a highly contradictory way. To elaborate, the Yemen crisis is a civil war due to internal fighting caused by the Houthi rebellion against the state and is fuelled by societal division on several levels. Accompanying this local crisis is an absence of any true and authentic political affiliation or political engagement despite the existence of a legal basis that allows political participation and freedom in Yemen. This article attempts to describe both local and international factors shaping the conflict, elaborate on the actors involved and their motives, explain the disastrous effects of the crisis, and put forward several possible scenarios for the future.
patrickn97
Wed, 03/01/2023 - 10:10
Peace in Yemen: Many Hopes and Endless Obstacles
In this piece for commonspace.eu, Mohammed Abdulmughni discusses why past attempts at brokering peace in Yemen's current civil war have failed. Part of the problem is the failure to address root causes, and numerous economic factors also serve as catalysts for the war, he argues.
Wars often break out when the various ambitions of two or more opposing parties are irreconcilable by peaceful means. These ambitions could be related to territorial expansion, continuing a legacy of enacting “historical revenge” on the opposing party, or tyrannical desires based on ethnic and religious fanaticism. While wars can flare up quickly, stopping them on the other hand is almost always slow and difficult. This has been the case for almost all wars across history. The Yemeni war is no exception. Indeed, the Yemeni war has many complex and overlapping dimensions, as has been noted by many observers and political analysts.
patrickn97
Mon, 02/13/2023 - 08:30
Climate change in Yemen: risks, realities and solutions
"Notwithstanding years of global negligence, the conflict in Yemen has made climate change no less of a threat to Yemen than the pandemic and the violence caused by conflict," writes Faisal Alshamiry in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. He discusses the climate situation, the biggest risks, and offers some suggestions for how Yemen can mitigate the effects of climate change that represent just as much an existential threat to the country as the ongoing war.
Discussions of climate change and environmental crises in Yemen are increasing in both local and international contexts. Yemen is known to be among the most arid places in the world and therefore one of the most vulnerable to climate change. In fact, during the past decade, the country has witnessed a higher rate of climate change in terms of water shortages and weather extremes, according to the World Bank. Moreover, low levels of land reclamation and migration out of farmlands are trends that further complicate the environmental challenges facing Yemeni society. To put this challenge into context, only 34% of the total land is agricultural, but the vast majority of this land is pastures, with only 3% being arable. Less than half of the arable land is actually cultivated.
patrickn97
Thu, 02/09/2023 - 08:40
The Yemeni Diaspora: its roles, realities and possibilities
In this third and final article in a series of three pieces about different aspects of the Yemeni diaspora, Hisham Almahdi discusses the realities, roles and possibilities that the global Yemeni diaspora can play in their efforts to rebuild the future of Yemen.
patrickn97
Mon, 02/06/2023 - 10:00
Houthis in Yemen abduct social media influencers in a crackdown on dissent
Stories continue to emerge of ongoing gross abuses by the Yemeni Houthi movement against Yemeni civil society activists in the capital Sanaa, and in other areas under their control.
This week, three well-known Yemeni YouTubers have been kidnapped by Houthis in Sanaa, as the militia steps up its crackdown on online influencers who expose its leaders’ flaws, according to the newspaper Arab News, published on Wednesday,(4 January).
Activists reported that Houthis abducted Mustafa Al-Mumari, Hamoud Al-Mesbahi, and Ahmed Elaw for posting videos on social media which support prominent YouTuber Ahmed Hajar, who was seized from a Sanaa street more than 10 days ago.
The social media posts also criticized widespread corruption and the failure to address famine.
Al-Mumari is a popular social media personality in Yemen with more than 2 million YouTube subscribers and tens of thousands of Facebook fans. The Houthi's, a militant group supported by Iran, seized control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and large swaths of the country's territory in 2014 and unseated the legitimate government, resulting in a civil war that neither side appears able to win.
dennis2020
Wed, 01/04/2023 - 06:03