USAID Partners with Yemeni Communities to Ease Land and Water Conflicts

YEMEN—Today, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced a two-year program to help communities in Yemen affected by conflict manage and resolve land and water disputes fairly and peacefully.

The $1.2 million USAID Building Peace in Yemen program, implemented by ARK Group, will encourage people to build mutual understanding, trust, and empathy in order to heal divisions, including those rooted in religious, ethnic, or political differences. The program will also promote climate resilience and help reduce violent conflict stemming from scarce resources.

“The United States stands with the people of Yemen as they focus on peace and progress in selected Yemeni communities through this new program which demonstrates our nations’ strong partnership,” said U.S. Ambassador Steven Fagin. “We are confident that this program will encourage greater climate resilience in Yemen and help reduce conflicts over limited resources.”

In recent decades, disputes over land and water in Yemen have resulted in conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands each year. These conflicts have grown increasingly complex during Yemen’s civil war, as the ongoing conflict has negatively impacted local authorities that typically help resolve these disputes. In addition, Yemenis are facing poor water regulation and distribution as a result of the growing impact of climate change, including depleting water tables, drought, and flooding.

“Communities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to land and water disputes driven by a changing climate,” said USAID Country Director Kimberlee Bell. “By partnering with Yemenis, we can prepare community leaders to resolve more of these disputes peacefully and safely.”

The USAID-funded program will partner with communities in rural Yemen to address root causes of land and water conflict, especially water scarcity, by promoting water conservation, especially in agriculture, and facilitating community-led climate change resilience planning. The program will promote dialogue, mediation, and resolution of existing land and water conflicts, especially those between groups in conflict.

USAID has provided more than $5.6 billion in humanitarian and development assistance to Yemen since 2015. For more information, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/yemen

# # #