SMUSD Invitational Conference

Yemen Civil War

Background Guide
 I. Introduction
Hello everyone! I am Brennan Ortega, and I will be the vice-chair alongside our
chair Matthew Rosen for the Novice Committee in our first SMUSD Conference! I am
currently a junior at Mission Hills High School and am thrilled to be a part of our Model
UN program. Having been a member of our club since my sophomore year, I currently
serve as the PR Director, as it is my first year taking on this position. As excited as I am
to have my first opportunity of vice-chairing a novice committee, I look forward to
collaborating with all delegates, both from Mission Hills and San Marcos, as we navigate
through our first online conference together! Thank you all for taking the time to
participate in this event, especially as distance learning becomes a difficult adjustment.
Stay safe, be respectful, enjoy yourself, and most importantly, have fun!

II. Humanitarian Crisis/Debate

Welcome to the Novice Committee, where our topic will be about the ongoing
Yemen War. The ongoing conflict has gained an instant reputation and global awareness
for being the source of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and so far shows no signs
of progress for resolution. Since that is the case, the debate style will be more on the
slower side since the topic is highly humanitarian focused. Due to the complications of
the COVID-19 Pandemic on a global scale, we will be ignoring the current events that
have been going on this year and we will be shifting one year prior to 2019. Therefore, all
information presented in research and position papers should be before 2019. You
delegates will be assigned countries to research and draft position papers on, and we will
be having one delegate have the opportunity to be Yemen, with the Saudi-led coalition
and the United States serving as allies, and the other to be the Houthi rebel force, with
Iran and its sphere of influence on their side. Like a normal Crisis Committee, we will
include a General Assembly with personal and group directives and
unmoderated/moderated caucuses. Here are couple of websites that summarize the
basics:
Everything You Need to Know About Crisis Committees
 Model UN Made Easy: Top 20 Important Terms to Know in Committee

III. Topic Background

The Yemen War has been a remediating occurrence since 2014, when Houthi
rebels, Shi’a Muslims who demanded reform of the Sunni dominated government along
with lower fuel prices, took control of the capital and largest city, Sana’a. As negotiations
failed between the government and the rebels, this prompted then-President Abd Rabbu
Mansour Hadi to resign from office in January 2015. He briefly returned to Yemen later
that year in September to rescind his resignation, but after a failed UN effort to engage in
peace talks with the rebels and Yemeni government, he had left his country once again.
As of December 2017, he is currently living in exile in Saudi Arabia while the fighting
continues.
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have long argued that they have been
discriminated against as part of the ages-long Sunni vs. Shi’a divide in the Middle East,
hence their revolt against the supposedly corrupt government. The Yemeni politicians are
aided by a Saudi-lead 10 Middle Eastern and North African nation coalition, in which
Saudi Arabia is being aided by the United States, its primary source of purchasing
weaponry. As Iran’s political and economic power has increased over time, its sphere of
influence has been spreading rapidly to neighboring countries Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and
of course Yemen, where it has been selling weapons to the Houthi rebels for years. Since
2015, an ongoing naval blockade by the Saudis to attempt to stop these shipments of
weapons and other supplies from Iran to Yemen has only escalated the hostility between
the two rival Middle Eastern nations. As the rivalry continues, Al-Qaeda’s active Yemen
chapter has only been getting worse as the United States is trying to prevent extremist
and terrorist involvement in the war.
However, the conflict has only resumed exacerbating its aftermath on the civilians
of Yemen, where it is currently the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. With a death toll of
over 15,000, the estimate of displaced people exceeding 4 million, and the 24 million
citizens who are in need of assistance, there is no doubt that the war’s biggest impact has
been tremendously absorbed by its own common folk. There has been a great famine as
numerous Yemenis are undernourished as all matters have been made worse by civilian
 casualties of the hospital and school bombings along with the destruction of cargo ships
carrying food and sustenance in the port cities.
What we will be primarily focusing on in this committee is a great famine and
humanitarian crisis that has left Yemen in a state of undying need, as well as the potential
war crimes that are being displayed through heavy use of aerial attacks. The United
States has been concurrently investigated for war crimes as it has been suspected that
they may be persuading or aiding the Saudi Arabians in their airstrike campaigns. Both
nations have also been battling counterterrorism organizations such as Al-Qaeda’s
Yemen Chapter and their reckless actions have been the causes of the civilian casualties
and famine we are still seeing today. Will the war continue to be an outright mess, or can
it be resolved?

IV. Country Assignments

● Saudi Arabia -
● UAE -
● USA -
● Iran -
● Iraq -
● France -
● UK -
● China -
● Houthi Rebels -