Public protest and visions for change: Conversations with Yemeni youth
20 December 2011
Understanding how young men and women in Yemen, who make up 75 percent of the population, perceive the drivers of Yemen’s current crisis and possible solutions needs to be an integral part of finding a lasting settlement and achieving sustainable peace. A new Saferworld research report, Public protest and visions for change - Yemen: People’s Peacemaking Perspectives, tackles these issues head-on.
Yemen’s civil protest movement is the largest in Yemeni history and the longest-running of the Arab Spring uprisings. Young protesters from across Yemen have come together calling for a more inclusive and representative political system. Building on consultations with young men and women from diverse backgrounds in four major cities in Yemen, Public protest and visions for change Yemen offers a detailed analysis of the main grievances driving the protests, youth ideas on transition and some of the innovative solutions and surprisingly positive conclusions they are drawing. Yemeni youth are not just voicing a set of grievances; many have begun to articulate visions for a more inclusive political system. Their perspectives are supplemented by interviews with politicians, religious and tribal authorities, businessmen, youth and women leaders, and experts on Yemen.
‘A civic state is one with freedoms and human rights, which are protected, nurtured and maintained by civil society, where all institutions abide by the rule of law, enforced by an independent judiciary and military.’ Young man in Taiz
One positive trend highlighted by the research concerns the way that the protest squares acted as catalysts for public debate, discussion and civic education. In a culture where public space is rare, they provided an opportunity for Yemenis of diverse geographical, social and political backgrounds to meet face-to-face and learn from each other as various coalitions produced weekly and daily newspapers and bulletins, and gave lectures on civic education, democracy, freedom of speech, and human rights. The connections that were fostered in these meetings, and the discussions that began in the squares, continue outside of them and are being carried into Yemeni society, bringing diverse social groups together to share and discuss ideas, and helping to bridge gaps and correct misperceptions.
“The interactions of different people with each other in the squares have helped broaden everyone’s minds, and made them realise that their grievances and demands are very similar.” Young woman in Sana’a
A second positive trend concerns the role of women. Yemeni women have often been the face of Yemen’s revolution, an indication that the protests have become more than simply a demand for a political transition. Young men in Aden discussed how women are “the backbone of the revolution,” and talked about how the courage of women to break social taboos to protest in the streets “gave all youth an incentive to go out in the streets in an unprecedented way.” Young women also discussed how they approached and maintained their activism in the face of strict barriers to their participation in public and political life in the country.
“In the past, women were not allowed to participate in protests. It was considered eib [shameful] for a woman to give a speech to men. Now you see women giving public speeches and spending the night in the square. These are very big changes,” Young man in Sana’a
The report is part of Saferworld’s EU-funded ‘People’s Peacemaking Perspectives’ project, a joint initiative implemented by Conciliation Resources and Saferworld and financed under the European Commission's Instrument for Stability. The project provides European Union institutions with analysis and recommendations based on the opinions and experiences of local people in a range of countries and regions affected by fragility and violent conflict.
