After nearly a decade in operation, the Yemen Peace Project will close its doors next month. Since 2010 we have made a real and measurable impact on the world, by providing a global stage for Yemeni artists and filmmakers, by supporting Yemen’s future leaders working for positive change, and by advocating for peaceful, constructive US policies toward Yemen. During the past year, our board of directors has seriously considered how these important objectives can be pursued in the most effective and sustainable way. We’ve concluded that our small, largely volunteer-powered group can have its most long-lasting impact by encouraging and assisting other organizations and activists to move ahead with the goals for which the YPP was founded. This strategy has already produced results, as demonstrated by:
The large coalition of organizations now working to change US policies regarding Yemen;
The successful votes in Congress against US military involvement in Yemen;
The attention now being given by think tanks and other organizations to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen;
The efforts now underway in the US, UK, France and elsewhere working to bring about accountability for war crimes committed in Yemen;
The initiatives, large and small, working to preserve Yemen’s incomparable cultural heritage and present its arts and culture to a wider audience.
Unfortunately, despite our donors’ best efforts, we can no longer afford to hire and retain the staff required to do this work ourselves. We believe this is an appropriate time to dissolve the Yemen Peace Project and to encourage all of those who have supported us during the past ten years to pursue YPP’s objectives through their own means. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and worked with us; you mean the world to us!