Can a New U.N. Envoy create Peace in Yemen?

On July 15, AGSIW hosted a discussion on the top issues and challenges facing the incoming United Nations special envoy for Yemen.

Speakers:
Nadwa Al-Dawsari, Non-Resident Fellow, Middle East Institute
Peter Salisbury, Senior Analyst, Yemen, Crisis Group
Maysaa Shuja al-Deen, Non-Resident Fellow, Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies
Gregory D. Johnsen, Former Member, U.N. Panel of Experts on Yemen (Moderator)

When Martin Griffiths, the outgoing United Nations special envoy for Yemen, gave his final briefing to the U.N. Security Council on June 15, he painted a “bleak picture” of stalled efforts to broker a cease-fire and initiate talks over ending the country’s 6-year civil war. Since former U.N. secretarial assistant-General Ban Ki-moon appointed the U.N.’s first special representative to Yemen in 2011, the country has undergone a precipitous transformation, with successive envoys overseeing an unsuccessful political transition and the eruption of a civil war, with little progress toward peace.

With news that European Union Ambassador to Yemen Hans Grundberg has been tapped to take over the role, what issues should be top of the new special envoy’s agenda? How has the province of affairs in Yemen changed since the appointment of the first U.N. envoy, and have mediation efforts kept pace with the evolution of the conflict? What lessons can be gleaned from the efforts of previous special envoys? And what recommendations can be made to Grundberg as he takes over the role?

agsiw.org