Four Years of Conflict: Analysis of the Violence and the Humanitarian Response in Yemen

Sammanfattning: Due to the ongoing conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government supported by a Saudi-led coalition of nine countries, the civilians in the country have already been exposed to violence for four years. According to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the current situation in Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. A large number of humanitarian organizations are present intending to alleviate the suffering. However, their response has been criticized as ineffective. Therefore, this thesis seeks to investigate the humanitarian response in Yemen in order to identify potential weaknesses. This was done out from a theoretical framework that drew on Johan Galtung’s conceptualizations on violence. The applied qualitative research approach was based on a case study research design. With the help of a literature review, the relevant data relating to the case was gathered and an analysis of the violence in Yemen was conducted using the concepts of direct and structural violence by Galtung. The 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP), published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), coordinates and guides the response of more than 240 aid organizations in Yemen. This plan was used to analyze the humanitarian response in order to find weaknesses in diminishing the identified direct and structural violence.The main findings are as follows: besides small exceptions, the identified aspects of structural violence are being addressed in the YHRP, which are related to the poor access to health care, food insecurity, poor WASH conditions, spread of infectious diseases and displacement. On the contrary, actions against the manifested direct violence, such as civilian casualties of the fighting, are hardly included in the plan. However, it should be noted that due to the humanitarian principle of neutrality, the aid organizations are obligated to remain neutral and are not permitted to get involved in the conflict. Thus, their inactivity regarding direct violence can be traced back to the humanitarian principle of neutrality.