On September 5, 2021, Hans Grundberg a Swedish diplomat, assumed his duties as the new United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen.

In his briefings to the Security Council, Mr. Grundberg warned that the continued escalation of violence threatens to further fragment Yemen and undermines the prospects of a peaceful resolution of the conflict. In particular, Mr. Grundberg reiterated the calls by the Security Council for the offensive on Ma’rib to stop, noting that military options cannot result in sustainable solutions.

In meetings and briefings to the Security Council, Mr. Grundberg highlighted the importance of tackling economic issues as part of a political dialogue aimed at comprehensively ending the conflict.

“There is an urgent need for economic de-escalation and wider reforms to improve livelihoods, lower the cost of goods, and protect the currency. There is an urgency to address the economic needs of the country as a whole, and for that we need genuine engagement from the Yemeni stakeholders and close coordination within the International Community to find solutions,” Mr. Grundberg said to the Security Council.

The UN Special Envoy also stressed the importance of immediate measures to mitigate the impact of the war on civilians but said only an inclusive comprehensive settlement to the conflict will be sustainable.

“From unrelenting violence to fuel and electricity shortages to surging food prices, every detail of daily life in Yemen is somehow tied to difficult political questions that demand a comprehensive resolution,” Mr. Grundberg told the Council. “In order to sustain peace in the long-term, the need for accountable governance, justice and accountability, and the rule of law cannot be ignored. Nor can the promotion and protection of Yemenis’ full range of human rights,” he said.

Since assuming his responsibilities, Mr. Grundberg consulted with the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah in Aden, Taiz, Riyadh and Muscat to explore ways to de-escalate the violence and to start an inclusive political dialogue aimed at comprehensively and sustainably ending the conflict. He also started discussions with regional actors including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Oman, Kuwait and Egypt. He has further started international consultations including through regular contact with the permanent members of the Security Council. During his visits inside Yemen and in the region, the Special Envoy consulted on political, security and economic priorities with a diverse group of Yemeni women and men including representatives of political parties, civil society organisations, local authorities and media professionals.

Through the consultations of the past three months, Mr. Grundberg identified three conclusions that he said will guide the design of the way forward. The first conclusion is that piecemeal solutions will not produce sustainable peace and there is a need for a comprehensive approach. In this regard, Mr. Grundberg stressed that it is overdue for the parties to engage in discussions with one another on the terms of a settlement under UN auspices without preconditions. Second, a solution will not be sustainable if it doesn’t represent the interest of diverse Yemenis — both those who are involved in the fighting and those who are not. Third, structured and coordinated international support is essential for this process.

“Based on these conclusions, I am envisaging an inclusive Yemeni owned and internationally-supported political process. The process should support near-term solutions to de-escalate the violence, prevent further economic deterioration and mitigate the impact of the conflict on civilians. It should also identify and build consensus around the elements of a political settlement that sustainably ends the war, establishes inclusive governance arrangements, and ensures Yemenis’ civil and political, as well as social, economic and cultural rights,” Mr. Grundberg said, “The process should be designed in a way that allows for parallel progress on different agenda items of importance to Yemenis. It will address the parties’ stated priorities in the context of a broader agenda that represents the interests of diverse Yemenis.”

Over seven years of conflict have ravaged Yemen, killing and displacing thousands of civilians, and causing devastating effects on the infrastructure, state institutions, Yemen’s social fabric, and the economy. Daily life is growing more difficult for millions of Yemenis across the country with stalled salaries, a free-falling currency, unreliable access to basic services, education and healthcare, as well as severe restrictions on their freedom of movement.

Freedom of movement restrictions affect millions of Yemenis who are forced to take longer routes on usually unpaved and dangerous roads dotted by many security checkpoints, which are manned by a patchwork of armed actors who often commit human rights abuses with impunity. This has exponentially increased average travel time for Yemenis compared to before the war. In certain areas, like Taiz, the impact of restrictions on freedom of movement has been exacerbated by the continuation of an active conflict. This resulted in interruption of schooling and prevented families who live on opposite sides of frontlines from uniting for years.

Comprehensively addressing the issue of freedom of movement in Yemen is complicated and requires a multitude of measures to respond to the full scope of the problem. Roads inside Yemen must be made accessible to civilians, especially arterial roads that are vital for travel and trade between and within governorates. These roads need to be made safer, including by removing mines, and by ensuring checkpoints are safe and security actors are held accountable. This should be accompanied by an urgent de-escalation of violence across the country.

“Similarly, Sana’a airport must reopen. Impediments to imports and the domestic distribution of fuel also continue to cause hardship for civilians, and should be removed, including by, but not limited to, lifting restrictions on Hudaydah port. Movement of people and goods is not a geographically isolated problem, it is a serious issue across the country that needs to be addressed by the conflict parties and supported by the international community,” Mr. Grundberg said.

Since assuming his duties as the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Mr. Grundberg has been consulting with various Yemeni, regional and international stakeholders on ways to begin an inclusive political dialogue that broadly covers immediate- and longer- term political, economic and security priorities. Such dialogue would focus both on immediate measures needed to mitigate the impact of the war on civilians, and the longer-term questions required to reach a durable and just solution to the conflict.

“While interim progress should be made on urgent humanitarian and economic matters, a durable solution can only be achieved through a comprehensive negotiated political settlement. There should be no preconditions for these urgent political talks. And humanitarian measures should not be used as political leverage. Dialogue and compromise is the only sustainable way forward,” Mr. Grundberg said to the Security Council.

The report modeled seven different recovery scenarios to better understand prospects and priorities for recovery and reconstruction in Yemen. The analysis stressed the need for an inclusive and holistic recovery process that crosses all sectors of Yemeni society and puts people at the centre and identified key recommendations such as empowering women, making investments in agriculture, inclusive governance, and leveraging the private sector. The report is meant to be a strategy document that explores the effects of Yemen’s conflict on development, the general development outcomes associated with pursuing alternative policy strategies, and a framework for understanding what is possible in a post-conflict country. The report also serves as an advocacy document, as it both highlights the costs of ongoing conflict in Yemen and the importance of coordinated and integrated recovery strategies .The report concluded that Yemen will be able to make up for lost time and offer better opportunities to the next generation through achieving a peace deal, pursuing an integrated recovery strategy, and leveraging key transformative opportunities.

You can download and read the report in English or Arabic from UNDP Yemen website.

The meaningful participation of civil society, including women’s organizations, has been proven to make peace agreements 64% less likely to fail. Since its creation, the Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen (OSESGY) has launched several initiatives to ensure women’s participation in peace efforts. This included the creation of the “Women and Youth Forum” in 2013 as a space that brings together women and youth activists to develop proposals that then fed into the National Dialogue Conference. In 2015, OSESGY and UN Women jointly created Tawafuq, or the Yemeni Women’s Pact for Peace and Security as a consultative mechanism that grew to include 60 Yemeni women. In 2018, OSESGY created the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a network of experienced Yemeni women from a variety of disciplines including economics, human rights and governance.

In his recent consultations with various groups not involved in the fighting, Mr. Grundberg explored views to inform a broad Yemeni agenda of immediate and longer-term political, economic and security priorities to be addressed in the context of an inclusive political dialogue.

“Youth representatives from across Yemen emphasized to me the role of the new generation as a driver of positive political change. In my meetings with Yemeni women, their determination to have a say in shaping the future of their country is unwavering and must have our full support. From inclusion in political talks to lifting of roadblocks that impede their full participation in civic, political and economic life, the rightful demands of Yemeni women and youth should be met by all parties to this conflict,” Mr. Grundberg said to the Security Council.