Security Council at GIMUN: The Yemen Civil War

This article has been written for the GIMUN (Geneva International Model United Nations) 2018 edition.

This year, the Security Council at GIMUN is aiming to discuss and solve an issue of extreme urgency that is crucial to the preservation of human rights: the Yemen Civil War. Yemen has been experiencing chaos, violence, and unrest since Feb. 3, 2011, after anti-government protests broke out due to two factions of the government which are still in disagreement. One side consists of the Houthi forces controlling Sana’a, who are allied to the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The other faction consists of the forces based in Aden, and are loyal to the current government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The issue has continued to escalate and although the United Nations and other governments have stepped in to intervene, the end is not yet in sight. In addition to the absolute destruction and devastation of various cities across the country, the number of civilian casualties has kept growing since the protests broke out. According to the United Nations, “10,000 people have died while fighting, 460,000 children are severely malnourished, 10,000 children have died from preventable diseases, 2,000,000 people remain displaced, 17,000,000 people are food insecure, and 7,000,000 people face the threat of famine.”

The ongoing violations of human rights, the civil unrest, and continuous anti-government protests fuel the violent climate that can now be seen in Yemen. Despite the various attempts by the Security Council and peace-talks facilitated by the UN and various treaties, nothing seems to be helping ease the tensions.

The Yemeni Government and the opposition seem to be at an impasse when it comes to this discussion, so it is up to the Security Council during the 2018 GIMUN conference to finally identify a sustainable solution for the Yemeni civil war and begin thinking about how to aid the country in terms of reparations and reaching a peaceful conclusion. With allegations of outside help from countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, tensions keep rising as the panorama gets murkier and more convoluted, making any hopes of hosting peace talks or finding a solution even more difficult.

The Security Council is tasked with a heavy undertaking, engineering a peaceful resolution and repairing the tears within Yemeni society.