Berghof Foundation: 50 years of conflict transformation

Yemen
2012–present
How to
engage
with all
parties in
times of
war?
Yemen has a long history of conflict. In 2012,
the country embarked on an ambitious political
transition process that was meant to lead to a
federal, democratic state. The Berghof Foundation
and its Yemeni partner organisation PDF (Political
Development Forum) started providing process
support to the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference
(NDC) and offered opportunities for consensusbuilding.
When disagreements and mistrust between
the parties quickly grew during the implementation
process following the NDC, the Yemeni parties
resorted to violence and the transition process
faltered in 2014. Ultimately, Ansar Allah/the Houthis
and their allies (among them the former long-time
president Ali Abdallah Saleh) took the capital Sana’a
by force. President Hadi and his government had to
relocate to Aden, in the south of Yemen, and Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates, together with a number of
supporting countries, entered the war.
Since then the country has been trapped
in a cycle of violence, with no single actor being
able to dominate militarily or take control of the
whole country. Yemen has become increasingly
fragmented: politically, territorially and socially.
For Berghof and PDF, a new question arose: how
to support efforts for a political solution when the
warring parties refuse to acknowledge each other
and view any effort to engage with the other side as a
hostile act?
As Berghof and PDF had gained a high level
of trust among Yemeni political elites during the
NDC, we were able to establish inclusive national
fora for political dialogue in 2015. Representation
was based on consensual criteria as defined by the
NDC, meetings took (and still take) place monthly
in Sana’a, Taiz, and later in Aden. In addition, we
facilitated inclusive dialogue meetings in other
countries in the Middle East and Germany to ensure
that representatives of all parties could participate.
The meetings covered all aspects of the conflict:
the political and security/military dimensions,
a roadmap for continuing the political dialogue and
completing the political transition process, options
for state formation and the status of the South.
We also convened dialogue sessions on the
economic and financial dimensions of the war and
on options to restart the political process.
Building on the long-established relations
of trust and the fact that we did not take substantive
positions but provided opportunities for dialogue,
the parties came to view the meetings as useful
and requested continuous support. We spent a lot
of time on preparations, making sure to choose
relevant topics, the right format and appropriate
level of participation. Our partnership with PDF, with
their in-depth contextual knowledge and excellent
relations with political actors across the spectrum,
was one of the key factors that helped keep the
meetings relevant, trusted and useful.
The meetings were closely coordinated
with the UN Special Envoy and his team and with
the German Federal Foreign Office, our main donor
and partner. The meetings produced a number of
tangible outcomes: they helped parties generate
new ideas and contributed to building consensus
on topics and structures for the peace process.
Ahead of the peace negotiations in Kuwait in 2016,
for instance, some of the questions relating to the
formula and sequencing of the negotiations were
discussed in our consultations with Yemeni parties
and some specific ideas on consensual mechanisms
were initially formulated in our meetings. Starting
in 2018, discussions and preparations of formal
talks focused on how to revitalise the Yemeni state
and on the crucial role of local authorities. At a local
level, the dialogues were temporarily successful in
easing tension and secured, for example, a prisoner
exchange in Taiz. In addition, we complemented
political discussions with on-the-ground support to
strengthen inclusive local governance in a number
of governorates and enhance community safety
initiatives in several cities.
Today, we have hope for new diplomatic
initiatives. For this purpose, in 2020 we started
involving Yemen’s regional neighbours in discussions
about options for Yemen’s future and regional ‘red
lines’. As the new US administration has promised
to re-engage in the Gulf and support ending the
war in Yemen, there is reason to believe that a fresh
diplomatic initiative based on a new regional and
international understanding would provide a strong
incentive for the Yemeni actors to come together and
revitalise efforts for a Yemeni-led political solution.
Berghof and its partner PDF are well-placed and
ready to continue supporting them.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet nur consequitam dolor habitam. Photo: Jane Donough / UNHCR
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