The war unfolding in Yemen has developed into the world’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe. According to the United Nations, more than 20 million people in the country need humanitarian or protection assistance, an estimated 17.8 million are food insecure, 8.4 million people are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation, 16 million lack access to safe water and sanitation, and 16.4 million lack access to adequate healthcare.
This situation is caused by a multi-layered war that juxtaposes a civil-war dimension, a counter-terrorism dimension, and a regional dimension involving major actors such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Whereas the intricacies of the conflict are often difficult to comprehend, the scale of the humanitarian disaster happening in Yemen demands further attention from the policy circles and the civil society.
This breakfast seminar, organized by PRIO in collaboration with the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies (NCHS), is an attempt to disentangle the complexities of the conflict and provides an opportunity to discuss some of the key aspects of the war in Yemen.
This seminar will precede and link up with the NCHS kickoff event March 7 and 8. More information can be found here.
Schedule:
8:00 – Coffee and light breakfast
8:15 – Welcome and introduction, Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, PRIO/NCHS
8:20 – “The internal dynamics of the conflict in Yemen: Actors, alliances and the future of the Yemeni state”, Maria-Louise Clausen, Danish Institute of International Studies
8:40 – "International Arms transfers and external intervention in the war in Yemen”, Nic Marsh, PRIO
8:50 – “The Humanitarian Dimension of the war in Yemen”, Thomas André Syvertsen, Norwegian Red Cross“
9:00 – “Ceasefires in Yemen (1989-2017): Preliminary results and lessons learnt for the Stockholm Agreement”, Júlia Palik, PRIO
9:10 – "The Stockholm Agreement: Prospects and challenges", Åshild Kjøk, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
9:20 – Q & A
9:30 – End of seminar
