South24 Center Launches the First Issue of its Quarterly Journal

South24 Quarterly© aims to launch a new project at South24 Center for News & Studies focused on culture, economics, politics and security of Yemen from a Southern perspective. Our first issue coincides with implementation of an UN-brokered sixty-day ceasefire that began on 1 April 2022, initially proposed by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on 16 March 2022, and the transition from President Abdo Rabbo Mansur Hadi to a newly formed eight-member Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) announced on 7 April 2022. The relative success of the ceasefire, which witnessed no airstrikes by the Arab Coalition for the first five weeks, paved the way for the first commercial flight by Yemenia Airways into Sana’a International Airport on Monday 16 May 2022. Changes Yemen has witnessed since the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan have been unprecedented and raise hope among the population, and Yemenis living abroad, of growing potential for a new round of talks among warring parties bringing urgently needed relief to millions suffering from food insecurity and in dire need for health care across the country. 

Under the title ‘Seven years of war, what comes next?’, our first issue presents two guest contributions by international authors with decades of experience working in Yemen. South24 Center is appreciates the contributions made by two great friends of Yemen. Dr. Nabeel Khoury brings a balanced view of the war and raises important questions regarding the challenges that lay ahead for Dr. Rashad al-Alimi (Chairman of the PLC) and regional powers. Dr. Noel Brehony presents a historical view from a southern perspective, warning parties to not repeat mistakes from the PDRY era. Our two featured articles are at the center of Sout24 Quarterly© project, where we aim to publish research-based articles by Yemeni authors. Ms. Farida Ahmed briefly introduces readers to a number of factions engaged in the war, those engaged since September 2014 when Sa’dah-based Houthi militia marched from Amran province into the Capital Sana’a and took control of government institutions and the new actors emerging across regions liberated since late-2015. Mr. Ahmed Salem Bahakim brings a fresh view into the process of recovery. Bahakim aims to present a process that begins much needed reconstruction efforts to deliver hope and relief to local populations as Yemen enters the eighth year of war. 

We hope our new publication contributes to an expanded understanding of the situation across Yemen among a general global population of interested readers. Priority at S24 Center is to gather Yemeni authors from across the country and those living abroad in order to allow Yemenis to directly shape the narratives on economics, politics and security of their country. Our guest contributors from among some of the most well recognized international experts on Yemen will help continue the dialogue that allows for better understanding between Yemenis, especially Southerners, and the international community.