Where next for youth in Yemen?

Half of Yemen’s 26 million people are under the age of 18. Young Yemenis played a crucial role in the 2011 uprising against former President Saleh's regime and the youth networks established following the uprising were a key way that youth voices were brought into the National Dialogue which followed. Yemeni youth activist Mohammad Al Shami talks to Elizabeth Bourne about the impact of the current crisis on these youth networks.

Can you tell us about your involvement in Yemen’s 2011 uprising and the youth networks that were involved?

In 2011 I was already part of an initiative called Resonate Yemen, which later became a foundation. We focused on engaging youth with public policy; making sure that their voices were heard and their opinions were addressed in decision-making processes. In the Yemen uprising youth voices were all demanding exactly the same thing which helped us to magnify our efforts both inside and outside the ‘Change Squares’ that sprung up in Sana’a, Taiz and Aden and across the country as a focus for the uprising. During the revolution I also established a small group inside Change Square in Sana’a, called ‘Media Youth’ to start building links between young journalists from Sana’a, Taiz and Aden. This helped build a strong network that could address any violations that had happened during the uprising. It could also organise talks, music and thematic discussions inside the various Change Squares.

Following the revolution, I’ve been working on projects to build and maintain momentum behind the youth movements that emerged from the Change Squares. I’ve been leading the Saferworld “Amplifying Youth voices” project where we worked with around 120 youth from across the country on advocacy campaigns, debates, workshops, national/international policy tours, reports and short films to extend the reach of youth messaging. The diversity of the group allowed youth within the network to build up an understanding of those from different groups – they had mutual interests and were aware of the difficulties each was facing within their areas of work. The networks created a good bond between the youth so even when their respective political parties ended up against each other there was still room for talks inside the group.

What has been the impact of the recent conflict on the youth networks?

The current humanitarian crisis and the total absence of very basic services like food, water, fuel and electricity means youth networks have lost their communication channels with each other and it has become very difficult for them to meet or to arrange large activities. Those youth groups that are able to meet and organise are currently more focused on helping with local humanitarian relief efforts than thinking about longer-term development programmes.

The networks have also lost a lot of funding, as many of the international organisations supporting them have suspended their development funds and most of the funding which used to come from the private sector or local organisations is also now focused on humanitarian aid. This is making it very difficult for youth to conduct awareness raising activities on issues like accountability, good governance, peacebuilding and conflict management which are very important at the community level in Yemen. But, most importantly, they have lost the support and connections they needed from international experts, many of whom have fled Yemen because of the conflict – along with many national experts.

The labeling of activists along sectarian lines is also creating divisions among youth groups and networks who have previously worked hand in hand, something that is also making it difficult for youth to speak out without facing accusations of being on a particular political side. As there are no jobs, some youth are being recruited to one or other of the conflicted parties either to fight, or to speak on their behalf, which is affecting the impartiality of civil society. Issues of mistrust are increasing between the community and youth activists, especially those who work in the media or for human rights organisations. Civil society organisations are gradually prioritising their own constituents and along increasingly political lines, even within humanitarian aid and human rights violations reporting. Unfortunately this is leading to fractures within civil society as many people are feeling forced into taking sides to receive more income.

 How are the youth networks responding to the crisis?

Even with all the challenges youth are facing given the horrific humanitarian situation they are playing an important role in delivering humanitarian relief to people under siege. They are distributing food and water in areas where there is fierce fighting, as well as cleaning streets, filling stagnant water pools with concrete to protect people from dengue fever and malaria, establishing remote clinics to provide first aid and some medical assistance, taking care of displaced people by providing them with food and shelters, and holding first aid training sessions.

In a small area between Al Dhale and Ibb called Damt the whole community has come to an arrangement that this area won’t be part of any conflict and will only focus on helping displaced people. The youth in Damt played a big role in promoting this agreement, as well as organising an advocacy campaign in the area against raising the prices of basic necessities so people can still afford them. In Sana’a a group of young female activists led a bicycle ride across the city to promote the right of women to ride bikes so they are still able to move around when there is no transportation.

What do you see as the positive role youth can play from now on?

I believe youth have the most essential role to play in preventing conflict and promoting peace. They are the engine of peace but unfortunately at the same time we must be realistic that youth also have the potential to fuel the war. Youth need to start creating a role for themselves as peacemakers who promote peace, asking others to stop fighting and pushing their parties to come out with more peaceful solutions. They need to keep working closely with the local governments in their local area to ensure more accountability and good governance. Additionally they need to observe and record all violations committed by parties to the conflict and start reporting this to the public thereby holding them to account. I believe the parties to the bombings need to be more accurate, especially when it comes to targeting civilians. Youth can start using radio and WhatsApp as new ways to spread information and gain support for tracking violations. They could also use this to encourage local communities to start working with each other to ensure safety and security in their own areas, and keep communications with national and international experts who can support their activities.

How do you see the role of the international community?

I think now is the time Yemen needs the international community, organisations, and experts to help the most – and there still lots of ways this can be done, both on the ground and from outside the country. First, by continuing to push for a ceasefire and to start an immediate dialogue that sees a real political solution. The solution needs to include a guarantee that all sides will implement it and we need to see impartial countries and organisations identified to monitor and report any violations. We also need to see an emergency economy plan focused on empowering small projects at the local level, along with programmes to solve immediate resource issues like water scarcity. A strong governance plan which helps to support governmental entities starting from the very local level is needed to ensure basic services are being provided to communities.

Longer term clearly there is a need for a plan for reconciliation activities which help to promote peace at all levels. Many international organisations are still operating in Yemen by delivering humanitarian aid, reporting human rights violations and conducting some community development programmes to promote peace and security. We need to see these NGOs building the capacity of local organisations and initiatives to be able to conduct similar programmes in the areas international organisations can’t access. International organisations need to advocate more for the funding to keep going to help such activities in Yemen as well.

Mohammad Al-Shami is a Yemeni youth activist, from 2011-2015 Mohammad worked for Saferworld''s Yemen programme coordinating youth and community security projects. He is now a Fellow at Wilson Center for the Leader of Democracy programme. Follow him on Twitter @alshami_83

Elizabeth Bourne is communications coordinator.

Find out more about Saferworld's work in Yemen.

“As there are no jobs, some youth are being recruited to one or other of the conflicted parties either to fight. ”

Mohammad Al-Shami