Transition in Yemen: what role for humanitarian action?

20140603 - 20140603

Please be aware that this is a past event.

One of the few Arab Spring countries to still hold promise of political change, Yemen nevertheless remains gripped by an intricate web of armed conflicts and troubling humanitarian conditions.

Humanitarian agencies in Yemen face obstacles on all fronts: insecurity and attacks on aid workers, limitations on access to people in need and the politicisation of donor objectives amidst widespread poverty, endemic food scarcity and rapidly declining water resources.

The on-going political transition in Yemen seeks to resolve major sources of conflict, but what does the political process mean for principled humanitarian organisations? How can aid agencies best navigate competing needs and demands for humanitarian and development assistance while avoiding violence and the sorts of attacks increasingly aimed at aid workers?

Join us on 3 June for a launch of the latest issue of the Humanitarian Exchange on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. We’ll discuss challenges facing aid agencies and hear different perspectives on what lies ahead for the overlapping political, developmental and humanitarian crises in Yemen.

?Speakers:

Trond Jensen – Head of Office, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Yemen

Helen McElhinney – Humanitarian Advisor, DFID Yemen

Michaël Neuman – Director of Studies, CRASH, Médecins Sans Frontières

Steven A Zyck – Research Fellow, Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI and co-editor of the Humanitarian Exchange on the humanitarian situation in Yemen

Saleem Haddad – Conflict Advisor, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme, Saferworld

Chair:

Wendy Fenton – Coordinator, Humanitarian Practice Network