Local Climate Dialogues in Aden and Hadhramawt

The impact of water scarcity on preexisting tensions in Yemen. Raising awareness among local and international stakeholders regarding the interlinkages of unequal access to water and conflict.

About the project

In Yemen, the impacts of climate change and water scarcity are interlinked with conflict. Water scarcity has aggravated pre-existing social and political tensions, which eventually boiled over into a large-scale conflict. The absence of government enforcement of water rights along with corruption has intensified social inequality.
The German-based Yemen Policy Center and its local counterpart, the Yemen Polling Center, thus consider it a necessity to raise awareness amongst local civil society organizations and officials, and to induce a shift of priorities amongst international organizations to understand and examine the interlinkages of climate change, water scarcity and conflict.
The collapse of Yemeni state institutions due to the conflict, along with the proliferation of non-state armed groups have increased the unequal access to water. If organizations and local institutions continue to ignore these interlinkages, achieving sustainable peace will become ever more difficult.

Why are we running this project?

In Yemen, the impacts of climate change and water scarcity are interlinked with conflict. Yet, these interlinkages are neither highlighted in analyses on the conflict today, nor considered explicitly in peace-building programs. What is further unsettling is the low level of climate change awareness, not only among the Yemeni public but also among policymakers and civil society organizations.  
Yemeni state institutions do not address climate change and water scarcity sufficiently. Without appropriate prevention and mitigation efforts and increased awareness, the impacts of climate change will accentuate the water crisis at an accelerated pace, hampering peace efforts in a country embroiled in a complex conflict.

What are our goals?

 

The goal of the project is to understand in detail the interlinkages of climate change, water scarcity and conflict, and make information available to Yemeni and international stakeholders. This will help to raise awareness amongst local state officials and to organize dialogues amongst local stakeholders, namely officers from local authority institutions, environmentalists, social figures, and farmers. One central goal is the development of a locally-led and low-cost option for local authorities to better address these impacts through an inclusive approach. Thereby, it is crucial to put climate change and water scarcity on the agenda of international organizations as well, while establishing connections of international to local NGOs.

How does the project work?

 

The goals will be achieved by conducting consultations with local stakeholders and public officials, not only to ensure that the project is designed and implemented in a collaborative manner, but to get a deeper understanding of the interlinkages described above.
The project team will organize local dialogues between civil society organizations and local officials as a starting point for a partnership, which will allow to develop low-cost solutions to environmental issues exacerbating local conflict. The project team will also develop awareness-raising material and communicate with the public.

Who organizes the project?

The Yemen Policy Center Germany e.V. (YPC) is an independent German think tank established in 2020 by a group of Yemeni and German researchers associated with the Yemen Polling Center, a Yemeni NGO headquartered in Taiz, Yemen. With its research and advocacy activities, the YPC works towards a closer integration of local perspectives into the policymaking process.

The Yemen Polling Center (YPC) is an independent Yemeni research center, headquartered in Taiz and established in 2004. With its research, YPC aims to support reforms which better correspond with the needs of the Yemeni people. In order to do this successfully, YPC will continue to build close relationships with Yemeni and international policymakers and government institutions.

Your contact persons

Lia Redecker
Yemen Policy Center
e-mail to Lia Redecker

Additional information

This program is part of the topic

Peace

What creates sustainable peace?

Peace

Peace Direct

How can power and resources be shifted to local actors? We support the peacebuilding organization Peace Direct, which is dedicated to transforming the international peacebuilding system. 

Read more
Peace

Locally led Peace Initiative in the tri-border region of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Burkina Faso

Read more
Peace

Principles For Peace - Charting a Path for Lasting Peace

Read more
More on this topic