The 8th Yemen Exchange

The Yemen Exchange is an intensive online version of the Yemen Exchange organized by the Sana’a Center and The Exchange Foundation. The course is designed to provide unique access to information, perspectives, updates, and analysis on Yemen for those seeking to develop a working background on the country as well as those already thoroughly versed in its dynamics. During the ten-day program conducted online, participants from around the world will listen to Yemeni analysts, academics, politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders, and international experts to gain insight and rare first-hand knowledge about the country from a wide range of perspectives. Participants will have the chance to both virtually engage with speakers during the sessions and connect with speakers individually after the Exchange.

The sessions themselves – totaling more than 30 hours – will dive into several specific areas, including but not limited to: Yemen’s multifaceted conflicts, socio-political dynamics, internal divisions and alliances among parties to the conflict, developments in the southern governorates, military and political developments on the ground, the status of various armed groups, gender issues, the regional battle for Yemen, the global response, the state of the economy, the UN-led peace process, and a variety of other topics.

The Seventh Yemen Exchange is an intensive online version of the Yemen Exchange organized by the Sana’a Center and The Exchange Foundation since 2017. The course is designed to provide unique access to information, perspectives, updates and analyses on Yemen for those seeking to develop a working background knowledge of the country as well as those already thoroughly versed in its dynamics.

The 10-day program will be conducted via Zoom Monday-Friday, starting at 16:00 Sana’a time/09:00 EST each day. Participants from around the world will attend sessions with Yemeni analysts, academics, politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders and international experts, gaining insight into the country from a wide range of perspectives. Participants will have the chance both to virtually engage with speakers during the sessions and to connect with them individually after the Exchange.

The sessions – totaling more than 30 hours – will dive into several specific areas, including but not limited to: Yemen’s multifaceted conflicts; the country’s socio-political dynamics; internal divisions and alliances among parties to the conflict; the possibility of southern secession; military and political developments on the ground; the status of various armed groups; the regional battle for Yemen; the humanitarian and economic crisis in the country; the UN-led peace process; and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All costs related to the Yemen Exchange are funded by participant fees. There is no supplementary government or private-sector support, a fact that allows us to assure participants of a relatively neutral platform for the free exchange of information and open dialogue.

All sessions are held under the Chatham House Rule (and are therefore not recorded). Some sessions host only one speaker in order to assure as open and unfiltered a discussion as possible on very sensitive topics. Simultaneous translation to English will be provided in the case of non-English presentations.

Prior to the beginning of the course, accepted participants will receive a course reading list and final agenda. Throughout the ten days of the course, necessary agenda updates will be communicated with participants. Those interested will also be connected with the speakers, enabling them to follow up with these experts for their own work and research.

Applying for a scholarship: The Yemen Exchange currently has five scholar-ships (covering the participation fee) available for researchers who will deepen the social, political and geographic diversity of the Exchange and who can demonstrate both financial need and a deep interest in Yemen. For any questions related to scholarships or to request an application with more information, email: exchange@sanaacenter.org.

The Exchange Foundation is an effort by the non-profit, 501 (C)3 Foundation for Global Political Exchange to promote professional and academic enrichment through a variety of small group, direct engagement conferences in Western Asia and North Africa.

During their stay, typically lasting five days to one week, participants from around the world listen to and question leading intellectuals, activists and politicians representing an array of different points of view in a specific country.

The first Exchange was launched in June 2008 in Beirut, Lebanon. Now, thirteen years on, more than 850 people from 51 different countries have attended 40 different Exchanges in the region.

Crucially, all funding for the Exchange comes from only two sources: The participants themselves who pay the participation fee or scholarship recipients who benefit from individual, charitable contributions designed specifically to broaden the social, political and geographic diversity of each Exchange table. As such, there is no government, commercial or non-profit support, an aspect that we believe provides a relatively neutral platform for dialogue and understanding.