Across Yemen’s diverse regions, communities are leading change despite years of conflict and instability. The Takamool Project – implemented by Saferworld in partnership with Youth Without Borders Organization for Development (YWBOD) and Resonate Yemen – captures these powerful stories (Takamool is generally translated into English as the process of combining separate parts into a single, cohesive whole).
Lasting change does not come from top-down interventions, but from locally-led initiatives. Each video was co-created with local civil society partners, filmed by Yemeni photographers, and shaped by direct community input. The videos show how community-led initiatives are filling critical gaps in services, fostering social cohesion, protecting human rights, and building peace from the ground up. From empowering women and young people, preserving Socotra’s cultural heritage, supporting the deaf community, and advancing inclusive education, the videos showcase how Yemeni-led efforts are transforming lives every day, despite sizeable challenges.
These stories are a reminder that sustainable peace and development requires flexible, long-term funding for local actors rather than short-term project grants, for donors to bring down barriers to access funding for civil society organisations, and for local authorities to support open dialogue and remove bureaucratic barriers that limit community initiatives.
The reflections shared are part of a broader effort to shift power, strengthen capacity, open-up civic space, placing Yemeni leadership at the heart of peacebuilding work. They challenge the notion that solutions must come from outside and instead demonstrate that hope, creativity, and transformation are already emerging from within Yemen’s own communities.
Please note – the views, perspectives and opinions expressed in these videos are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the views of Saferworld as an organisation.
