Southern leadership

التالى السابق

The Necessity of Empowering the People of the South to Govern thier Own State

REPORTS - 9 days ago

Stability and Counterterrorism at the Heart of the Southern Project

South Eye | Report - Exclusive

The issue of empowering the people of the South to govern their own governorates has long been a central point in the Yemeni political landscape. This political empowerment is a crucial step toward achieving stability and enhancing counterterrorism efforts. With the growing security and political challenges in Yemen, it has become increasingly clear that the Southern Transitional Council (STC) has demonstrated its steadfast commitment to maintaining security, promoting stability, and cooperating fully with the international community on security and development matters.

Over the past years, the STC has proven its capability to effectively manage the South, successfully restoring security in many southern governorates and countering the terrorist threats that have long plagued the region. In this context, empowering the people of the South to govern themselves is a political necessity & for sure a strategic imperative for ensuring nationwide stability and a more effective fight against terrorism.

Since the STC took control of several areas in the South, these regions have witnessed a noticeable improvement in security. Terrorist operations by groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have significantly declined due to the security and intelligence efforts led by southern forces. The South's stability and willingness to cooperate with the international community in counterterrorism & in securing vital waterways such as the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab make its support a regional and international necessity.

Experience has shown that security arrangements led by southern forces are far more effective than external interventions. Southern forces possess the geographic knowledge, national motivation, as well as the operational capability, necessary to combat terrorist groups effectively. This has been demonstrated in successful security operations targeting terrorist hideouts in Abyan, Shabwah, and Hadhramaut.

The Importance of Relocating UN Headquarters to Aden

Amid increasing security risks for international organization workers in areas controlled by the Houthi militia, the demand to relocate United Nations offices to the southern capital, Aden, emerges as a logical and necessary step to protect its staff and ensure the continuity of its humanitarian and developmental operations. Since its liberation, Aden has proven to be a more stable and suitable environment for diplomatic and humanitarian work. The presence of the legitimate government and the STC in Aden provides greater freedom of movement and cooperation with international entities.

Relocating the UN headquarters to Aden would enhance the safety of its employees & ensure a more effective humanitarian response, free from the extortion and interference practiced by the Houthi militias in Sana’a. These militias have gone as far as arresting UN staff and endangering their lives, as seen recently with the case of Ahmad Ba’alawi, an operations officer for the World Food Programme, who died while being arbitrarily detained by the Houthis.

But in order to take this responsibility with full commitment, the south need to empower its people to manage their own affairs as it is the foundation for any sustainable nation-building process in Yemen. Experience has shown that projects imposed on the South without the involvement of its people are doomed to fail, whereas whenever the people of the South are given the opportunity to govern their own governorates, it positively impacts security, stability, and development.

The STC has positioned itself as a responsible institution that fully cooperates with international and regional powers to achieve stability, effectively combats terrorism, and advocates for a just and sustainable resolution to the Southern issue within the framework of a federal southern project. So, given these realities, supporting the empowerment of the South is not in Yemen’s interest only, in fact it is also in the interest of regional and international security. It enhances the prospects for lasting peace in the region.