Yemen Q&A

Some of the most successful projects carried out by IR Yemen (IRY) are its conflict transformation programmes. Here Abdul Aziz Saeed, IRY’s programme manager, discusses the widespread problem of tribal conflicts in Yemen and what they are doing to resolve the issue.

Can you give a short overview of the issue of conflict in Yemen?
Yemeni history is marred by numerous conflicts, the most virulent being those motivated by internal power struggles. The devastating civil wars (1962-1970 in the north and 1986 in the south) and several border clashes, prior to unification and in May 1994, were very damaging to the country as whole. In the northwestern region of Sa’ada in late 2003, the late Hussein Al-Houthi led a rebel group called the Young Believers against the central government. The war erupted again in April 2007 and is still on-going. Hundreds of people have died on both sides, although numbers cannot be confirmed due to restrictions placed upon the media. Analysts suggest that the increasing support for extremist ideologies is indicative of a worsening socio-economic situation with almost half the population under the age of 15 having poor future prospects and therefore nothing to lose.

Can you explain the Yemeni tribal system?
The tribes in Yemen are more dominant in rural areas and they have various levels of influence and power in the Yemeni government. Tribal leadership plays a vital role in Yemeni politics, but it doesn’t necessarily provide it with strategic vision or represent wider society’s interests. For more than 40 years, the Yemeni government has not been able to control all of its territory because of the tribal dominance in some areas. Some of the tribes have been loyal to the state, while others have had their own ways of governance.

Tribal affiliation is particularly strong in the northern part of the country. Tribalism in the south was weakened by the socialist regime that followed independence in 1967. The northern tribal areas of Yemen are dominated by two major tribal groups: Hashed and Bakil, which together comprise close to thirty smaller tribes.

Tribal conflicts continue to have an impact on the situation in Yemen. The causes of such conflicts and clashes go back to the 1970s and 1980s. It had been the government strategy not to get involved when the tribes clashed with one another over border disputes, struggles over power and resources or revenge and hatred. The most apparent motivation for such a strategy was the threat those tribes posed to the government during those periods. That threat was enhanced by the arms the tribes possessed during the internal conflicts between the Republicans and Royalists during the 1960s. At that time, both the Republicans and Royalists depended on tribes for support. The tribes accumulated large stocks of arms and gained a lot of military experience.

The threat from tribes is a real one; many of the tribes are well armed and males over the age of fifteen regularly carry guns. Some believe that the demand for arms is not only due to fears of insecurity or the effects of poverty but also for trade and to counter the domination of the political power.

Tribal conflicts in Yemen are frequent. According to official estimates, such confrontations lead to 1,500 deaths every year. According to a study conducted by a civil democratic initiative foundation, 80 percent of revenge killings are a result of disputes over water and land.

How has poverty contributed towards conflict in Yemen?
Unfair distribution of wealth, lack of good governance, a corrupt juridical system, the spread of corruption within the government, lack of security and social injustice produce poverty and the eventual outcome is conflict.

How has the continued conflict hampered the development of the country?
The basic elements of development are good governance, political, economic and social stability, rule of law and a strong judicial system. If these factors are not present then development does not take place.

What is IR doing to help the situation?
IR is already present in the target areas, where it has managed to establish good relationships with the local government, tribal and community leaders and the population at large. In addition we have the orphans programme and development and seasonal projects. IRY responded to two emergencies in 2005: the landslide in Al-Dhafeer village and the flood in Ma’abar, Dhamar.

IRY has become increasingly known through the provision of training in the areas of disaster preparedness and response, child rights and human development. In July 2006, IRY conducted a 3 day conflict prevention training session for 21 police women and 9 members of local NGOs. The training was based on power-point presentations, case studies, exercises and a video on conflict transformation and peace-building. The results of the training were positive, as participants expressed their interest in receiving further training in conflict prevention.

The issues of conflict and peace-building have been discussed with a number of government officials at local and central levels. For example, the previous governor of Sa’ada, his deputy and the head of security, are aware of our intention to develop this kind of initiative and have expressed their interest and willingness to cooperate with IRY. In the same vein, the former governor of Sana’a expressed his interest and highlighted the need to promote conflict prevention and peaceful conflict resolution. IRY has registered local tribe and community leaders’ willingness to participate in exploring non-violent means of solving disputes.

Conflict transformation is about sustainable development. It can be integrated in all levels of economic, social reform and development.

What can IR offer as a faith-based NGO?
IR can offer a lot. IRY is the first Islamic faith-based NGO to take the initiative to contribute to peace-building in the world. Sustainable development and peace-building go together. We cannot provide development where violent conflicts exist. The programmes help in building the capacity of the community to deal with their conflicts through peaceful means. These means include dialogue, negotiation, mediation and accepting others.

Who attends the training on conflict transformation?
The beneficiaries are from poor tribal rural and urban areas from four governorates of Sa’ada, Sanaa’, Lahi and Aden. The beneficiaries are broken down as follows: 665 local community leaders, students, teachers, security officers, civil society members and refugees from the Horn of Africa.

What is conflict transformation, and how is it different from conflict resolution and peace building?
There are several terminologies that are used in different parts of the world. These terminologies include, but are not limited to: conflict settlement, conflict resolution, conflict management and conflict transformation. The distinctions among these terminologies are:

1. Conflict Settlement: disputes are considered to be disagreements that involve negotiable interests. The resolutions are short term. Conflict settlement refers to the reaching of satisfactory agreements between the parties involved in the disputes. It is primarily concerned with bringing the dispute to an end without necessarily dealing with its fundamental causes.

2. Conflict Resolution: this focus on non-negotiable issues such as fundamental human needs, intolerable moral differences, or high stake distributional issues regarding essential resources, such as money, water, or land. It requires a more analytical, problem-solving approach than conflict settlement because resolution means going beyond negotiation to meet all sides’ basic needs, while finding a way to respect their underlying values and identities.

3. Conflict Management: this involves the control, but not resolution, of a long-term or deep-rooted conflict. The goal of conflict management is to intervene in ways that make the ongoing conflict more beneficial and less damaging to all sides.

4. Conflict Transformation: different from conflict resolution and management it reflects a better understanding of the nature of conflict itself. Conflict Resolution implies that conflict is bad, and is therefore something that should be ended. It also assumes that conflict is a short-term phenomenon that can be resolved permanently through mediation or other intervention processes. Conflict Management assumes that conflicts are long-term processes that often cannot be quickly resolved. The problem with the notion of management suggests that the goal is the reduction or control of volatility, rather than dealing with the real sources of the problem.

Conflict Transformation does not suggest that we simply eliminate or control conflict, but rather that we recognize and work with its dialectic nature. Social conflict is a natural occurrence between humans who are involved in relationships. When conflict happens, it changes or transforms those events, people, and relationships that created the initial conflict. Therefore, the cause and effect relationship goes both ways. It describes the natural process of conflict. Conflicts change relationships in predictable ways, altering communication patterns and patterns of social organization, altering images of the self and of the other. Conflict transformation suggests that the destructive consequences of a conflict can be modified or transformed so that self images, relationships and social structures improve as a result of conflict instead of being harmed by it. Intervention has been successful if each group gains a relatively accurate understanding of the other.

What skills will people be taught?
It is expected that after the training, participants will have an enhanced understanding of human rights. They will also understand the benefits of conflict transformation, and peace building. They will have developed the ability to recognize and deal with conflict effectively, by producing positive outcomes. Acquired skills will enable them to solve disputes peacefully, preserve relationships and work collaboratively. Participatory training sessions are expected to provide opportunities for participants to explore, question, discuss, and give feedback on the issues learnt.

This program will provide influential community members with the skills to deal with conflicts and convey the knowledge to other community members. NGO participants will give feedback on the possibility of getting involved in the peace building areas. IRY will help them in this respect. Teacher and student feedback will give us some indicators for the possibility of integrating conflict issues into school curriculum.

Apart from training on conflict transformation programmes, is there anything else needed to help reduce conflict in Yemen?
We need to reduce poverty levels in the country by increasing employment opportunities, income generating activities, education, and basic health and water services as well as eliminating corruption in both public and private institutions. Political, economic and social reform is the key towards stability and development.