Abstract

The case discusses the civil war in Yemen which had started in 2014 between the Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah, meaning ‘Champions of God’) and the Yemeni government led by then President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (Hadi). The war started after the demand by the Houthis to reduce fuel prices and the formation of a new government failed with the Yemeni government. Consequently, the Houthis occupied the Presidential palace forcing Hadi to step down. Hadi then fled to Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen, and finally to Saudi Arabia. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states supported by the US intelligence, attacked the Houthis to restore the internationally recognized Yemini government. The attack led to a full-fledged war, killing 13 civilians in Yemen, in March 2015. The war had a devastating impact on the Yemenis as the Saudi-led coalition on one hand, and the Houthis on the other, bombed crucial infrastructure such as farmlands, water treatment facilities, healthcare facilities etc., creating a man-made humanitarian crisis in Yemen with people having no access to food. Over the years, the United Nations made several to resolve the conflict but failed to negotiate with the Houthis. The Houthis continued to launch missiles on the UAE and the Saudi Arabia as both the countries supported the internationally recognized Yemeni government. In April 2022, Hans Grundberg (Grundberg) United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, stated that the Houthis and the Yemeni government entered into a truce for two months. Under the agreement, both the parties mutually agreed to halt offensive military operations in the country. The truce went for six months and expired on October 2, 2022. The United Nations believed that there was some hope to resolve the conflict in Yemen had the truce been extended, however, the Houthis demand for salaries to be paid to their military and security personnel led to calling off the truce by both the parties. The US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking expressed concerns over failure by the United Nations to extend the truce as he believed that the humanitarian situation would further worsen in Yemen and funding was inadequate to cater to the needs of the civilians. Going forward, the United Nations faced the challenge to reach a political settlement in Yemen. In addition to this, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs several actions were needed by the international community to strengthen the economy of Yemen – the worsening exchange rate was prohibiting people from affording food since majority of the food was imported in Yemen.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the factors that lead to conflict in countries
• Understand the impact of a conflict on the civilians and the country’s economy
• Discuss how the international community can play a role in reaching a political settlement in conflict-affected countries.

Keywords

Civil war; Humanitarian crisis; Houthis; Conflict Resolution; Truce; Political settlement; International community; United Nations Security Council; United Nations; UNICEF; Gulf Cooperation Council; Saudi-led coalition; Southern Transitional Council; Stockholm agreement, Operation Decisive Storm