This report analyzes Yemen’s legal and practical local governance arrangements after a decade of conflict, focusing on how the 2000 Local Authority Law, wartime fragmentation, and governorate-level realities shape future constitutional options. It includes a discussion of the main features of the Local Authority Law of 2000, as well as the draft 2015 constitution and the 2015 ‘Constitutional Declaration’ issued by Ansar Allah. The report presents details of the competing political and military entities active in three governorates controlled by the IRG, Aden, Hadhramaut and Taiz to highlight the range of de-facto existing governance arrangements. It argues that elements of the current fragmentation could be positive in a “better governed post-conflict future Yemen.”
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