EU Country Roadmap development in times of war

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Due to the war and continuous bombings, the general circumstances in Yemen are so dire that almost all institutions have been affected directly and many of them are unable to maintain operations. This is the case for government institutions, international organisations and local NGOs.

Many local NGO’s in Yemen are struggling to continue keeping their operations on-going. But as financial and institutional sustainability were critical issues in peacetime already, they have become even more crucial now. Most NGOs were forced to close their premises in fear of airstrikes and risks for their staff. Others had to close their offices as they have failed to pay for the rent. As many international organisations left Yemen and accordingly suspended their funding to Yemeni NGOs, those NGOs are more and more challenged to cover salaries and operational costs.

Given the difficult situation in the country, in close cooperation with the EUD Yemen and the EC headquarters, the Support Facility Roadmaps therefore changed the focus of its support from the development of the EU Country Roadmap to identifying which NGO’s, local and international, are still able to play an important role in the country and how they are coping with the crisis. The Roadmap Support Facility’s local expert, Sawsan AlRefai, confirms that the role of NGOs in Yemen is becoming even more crucial than they were before.  “Specially in times of conflict and post-conflict the delivery of services and the implementation of humanitarian activities mainly rely on NGO’s” AlRefai says.  “No matter how serious the situation is, as soon as the situation gets a little better, NGOs will need to come together to decide what the priorities are in what they can do to help the Yemeni people.”

“Before the war started we were working with the EUD on starting a CSO consultation to develop the EU Roadmap” AlRefai continues.  “Now, of course CSO’s are totally consumed with other things and there is no space at all for consultation. However, as the war will hopefully come closer to an end, I foresee that the NGOs will start receiving funds again and their operations will therefore be kicked off again. It is expected that funds will be earmarked for humanitarian and emergency support as well as for conflict resolution and peace building. We will then also need to start consultations again for the EU Country Roadmap for engagement with civil society. The EU role in the planning process in Yemen will then be more important than ever. The focus is now on identifying who the actors now are in case the EC decides to channel funds again.”

The Roadmap Support Facility is therefore currently working on an institutional review of those NGO’s that are still active in Yemen at the moment and on understanding better local dynamics (i.e. how Yemeni citizens and local groups are organising to cope with the crisis). When the country stabilises, and there is space to think strategically ahead again,this analysis will be an important input for the further development of the EU Country Roadmap for Yemen.