NDI supported the SPA in 2023 and 2024 as they established internal structures and built capacity in conflict mediation and resolution.
Success Story
From Community to Institution: How Yemen’s Social Peace Assembly Brought Stability to Hadramawt
In spring 2023, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) launched a series of consultations with 36 community leaders in Mukalla, a port city in Yemen’s Hadramawt governorate, to identify sources of local tension and explore how communities could lead their own solutions. Since the Houthi militia seized the capital Sana’a in 2014, Yemen has endured a devastating civil war that has upended daily life across the country.
Mukalla had become a safe haven for people displaced by conflict in neighboring governorates, but weak state institutions, infrastructure mismanagement, and rampant corruption strained relations between host communities and newcomers, creating tensions that risked spiraling into open confrontation.
Out of those consultations, something remarkable emerged. The community leaders themselves proposed forming a committee of local activists and representatives from across Hadramawt’s Mukalla district’s social and political fabric to resolve disputes and foster community cohesion. While mediation initiatives already existed in Mukalla, they were fragmented, ad hoc, and largely individual.
NDI supported a cohort of approximately 30 community members–including youth, women, activists, and tribal leaders–who, despite their different backgrounds and roles, shared a common belief: that peace is built locally. With NDI training in conflict analysis, resolution and organizational development, they established an internal structure and unified their efforts under what became known as the Social Peace Assembly (SPA), guided by a simple but powerful vision: “One path, One effort, One team.”
Establishing a Local Identity
From the start, the SPA launched a comprehensive outreach campaign in Mukalla, conducting a series of field visits to schools, police stations, courts and residential neighborhoods. Within six months, its impact was impossible to ignore: the SPA was resolving approximately four local disputes among community members per week, earning the trust of both residents and authorities. Local security and judicial authorities began referring complex cases–inheritance disputes, property ownership, domestic violence–that traditional mechanisms could not resolve. Throughout this period, NDI provided continued technical assistance in team building, strategic communication and outreach, conflict resolution and reconciliation, helping the SPA grow from a promising initiative into a credible local actor.
In October and November 2024, the SPA conducted 22 awareness sessions on the dangers of cyber extortion against women. The campaign reached over 22,000 individuals across Mukalla.
Tackling the Hardest Issues
As the SPA evolved, it turned toward some of the most sensitive and significant local issues, most notably violence against women. In fall 2024, the SPA launched a large awareness campaign on cyber extortion against women—a crime that had previously gone underreported due to social stigma and fear. Before the SPA’s intervention, police reports from women were nearly non-existent. Afterward, reporting rose to five cases per week.
By engaging women in markets, public places, parks, schools, and universities with the message "We are with you, we are here, don't be afraid," the SPA helped break through a barrier of fear. The campaign culminated in a public event attended by over 1,500 community members, featuring theater performances, community art exhibitions, and a coordinated social media push to raise awareness of the violence women and girls face. The campaign has since become an annual tradition, conducted in partnership with the Hadramawt Education Department.
The SPA’s community awareness campaign culminated in a public event that combined awareness sessions, community art exhibits, and theater performances to raise awareness of the violence women and girls face.
The SPA also mobilized institutional partners. Its advocacy led the Mukalla Security Directorate to establish a dedicated department to address cyber extortion. Furthermore, private sector members within the SPA contributed financially to reconciliation efforts and sponsored free public awareness sessions in amusement parks.
The SPA conducts field visits with local government officials to enforce price controls on essential goods.
Strengthening Accountability
With NDI’s guidance, the SPA introduced “listening and accountability sessions.” These forums allowed citizens to voice concerns directly to local officials in attendance, creating a formalized space for citizen engagement where none previously existed. These sessions quickly became a trusted mechanism for raising priority concerns, including the quality of local services.
The SPA also established a joint economic accountability committee, bringing together local authorities and community members to address the financial pressures affecting everyday life. The committee conducted five field visits across Hadramawt's central markets and residential neighborhoods, monitoring prices and ensuring compliance with mandated price decreases. The committee identified violations, penalized non-compliant merchants, and ensured appropriate pricing of basic goods, encouraging the local government to fulfill its role in financial oversight and improve public access to essential needs. As a result, the SPA became a trusted mediator, observer and supporter for both citizens and local authorities.
A Pillar of Stability in Times of Crisis
The SPA’s resilience was tested in December 2025, when the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a political entity with a separatist agenda, launched a large-scale military operation across southern Yemen and briefly seized large areas of Hadramawt through Sayoon. Following the Yemeni government's counteroffensive and the STC’s withdrawal, the SPA played a vital role in stabilizing Mukalla. SPA members actively assisted local authorities in securing and guarding government facilities and provided critical input in operations room discussions aimed at preventing looting and maintaining public order.
In recognition of its contributions, the Director General of Mukalla issued a formal decree officially integrating the SPA into the Mukalla Directorate and granting it a permanent office within the Directorate’s headquarters.
A Model for What’s Possible
The SPA’s journey—from an informal group of mediators to a formally recognized pillar of local governance—is a testament to what communities can achieve when they are organized, supported and trusted to lead. Even in a country ravaged by war, citizens committed to peace can build the institutions their communities need. This achievement reflects the commitment, dedication and volunteerism of the SPA members, and the sustained technical partnership of NDI–proof that lasting stability is built not just by governments, but by people who refuse to give up on their communities.
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