Yemen on the verge of change - ITPCM - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna

ITPCM International Commentary
April 2013
ISSN. 2239-7949
Foreword
Dear friends of the ITPCM,
welcome, once again, to the traditional
appointment with the newest issue of our
Commentary, which this time is dedicated
to the situation in <strong>Yemen</strong>. This country
perfectly represents many of the contradictions
and challenges the people of <strong>Yemen</strong>
and the international community are
facing nowadays.
<strong>Yemen</strong> has been attempting to start a
democratic transition with the Government
of National Unity under the leadership
of President Abdrabuh Mansour
Hadi, who came to power in an election
held in February 2012 following the wellknown
street protests that led to the resignation
of former President Ali Abdullah
Saleh. The political transition in <strong>Yemen</strong>
will be inspired by the guiding principles
of the Implementation Mechanism Agreement,
which has been brokered under the
so called Gulf Initiative. The new instrument
in this framework, which has been
assigned a crucial role in preparing the
ground for a new constitution and prepare
elections, is the National Dialogue Conference.
The NDC opened officially on 18
March 2013, and constitutes a historical
opportunity for finding, through a dialogue
which must involve all the relevant
stakeholders, effective solutions to the
political, social and economic problems
that the country has been struggling with
for years. The importance of this Conference,
and the risks that there might be
forces interested in preventing the NDC
to reach a positive conclusion, has been
highlighted by the UN Security Council.
In a presidential statement, the Council
stated that the Conference should be conducted
in an “inclusive manner involving
the full participation of all segments of
<strong>Yemen</strong>i society, including representatives
from the South and other regions, and the
full and effective participation of youth
and women”. Last week the UN Special
Envoy for <strong>Yemen</strong>, Jamal Ben Omar, said
that the situation in the country remains
fragile and that many tasks lie ahead for
the transition to succeed. “While progress
has been made and the transition remains
largely on track, it is clear that there has
been active resistance to the transition”,
Mr. Ben Omar commented, adding that
“it is clear to whom these are attributable
to”.
In this complex situation, the international
community is requested to play an
important role of watchdog to make sure
that the Guiding principles of the implementation
mechanism are respected and
that the Conference is carried out in a
participatory and peaceful manner.
Beyond the political transition, <strong>Yemen</strong> -
one of the poorest countries in the Arab
world - faces massive economic and social
challenges. UN-OCHA, the United Nations
office that coordinates humanitarian
affairs, estimates that almost half the
population does not have enough to eat.
In some regions, every third child is malnourished.
Officially, the unemployment
rate is 35 percent, with the young generation
the worst affected. There are also
power blackouts that leave even the capital
Sana’a without electricity for hours.
The difficult issues the country has to
face - from poverty and food insecurity
to the risk of disaggregation, from fighting
terrorism to dealing with significant
migrations and IDPS, from incredible
international pressure to the revitalization
of the economy - are additional elements
which contribute to make the whole
situation almost explosive if not managed
properly. In this issue of our International
Commentary the various contributors
share their knowledge to explain the
existing situation, the political and legal
implications of the possible solutions and
to suggest a few possible ideas on how to
overcome the most dramatic and urgent
problems.
In addition, you will find in the last pages
of the Commentary some basic info about
the next Courses we will be running in
the framework of the International Training
Program for Conflict Management
of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Feel
free to share the info with your colleagues/
friends who might be interested in attending
any of these. As you will notice, we
are undergoing a major effort to increase
their number and scope, to continuously
update their content and to offer courses
dealing with new issues that are becoming
more and more relevant.
We hope you will enjoy reading this issue.
Warmest greetings to all of you and to
your families
Andrea de GUTTRY
Director, ITPCM
Pisa, April 3, 2013
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