‘Yemen, it’s complicated’ – a phrase that whirls around the tongues of most analysts and journalists. They forget its beauty, they forget the resilience of its people, they forget its history and its culture which spread to the rest of what we now know as the Arab world. They see a humanitarian crisis, they see a political quagmire and they see military strategy; though coverage is important, it is not enough.

We’re here to show another part of Yemen, the Yemen that we’ve all known and loved. We’re here to give Yemenis a voice and control over the narrative that surrounds their mysterious country. The world can’t live on a wheel of baseless assumptions and treating those who have been subjected to violence or death as statistics, or even tools for propaganda, because within each pair of eyes, no matter who they are, or what they believe in has a story. We want these stories to come out. We want the people to be heard.

Yemen Growth Forum is a group that enables just that. While we may not forget the political situation, because it’s unavoidable and simply naive to ignore it, we want it to be heard from Yemenis themselves and through the story of Yemenis who have lived and experienced the situation. Either from the story of the diaspora Yemeni who is trying to make a difference outside, or someone from the perspective of a struggling mother inside Yemen who is trying to provide for her children. All voices are equally as important, and it not only important that they are all given a platform to be heard, but a platform for the many voices to speak to each other and to listen to each other.

For the past year, Yemen has been in the headlines, for the first time, people knew the word “Houthi,” a word that was confined to those who are inside the Yemeni community, or are familiar with it. Yemen’s relationship with fellow Arab countries surfaced as a topic to monitor closely amongst analysts. For the first time, people know that the current Yemeni president is called Hadi, and that the uprising in 2011 has shaped Yemen as we now know it. People started to acknowledge the tribal significance inside Yemen, but at the same time, the word of Yemenis has been shunned by reports, statistics, articles and official statements.

We are a platform to discuss and to engage. We want the diaspora community to connect with the home community to take advantage of Yemeni diversity to rebuild, reconcile and reconstruct. We realise that taboos need to be broken and safe, judgement free spaces need to be structured.

For those who are observing Yemen, this is a source for information and a source to understand the discussions and debates happening in Yemeni society. Rather than just looking at the numbers international organisations present, or arguments journalists make, Yemen Growth Forum gives you a chance to listen in on the many debates, many reasons for discontent, but also many reasons to have hope in what was once called “the happy Arabia.”