Biography
Mahmoud Shehrah is a former Yemeni diplomat specializing in political analysis, conflict resolution and economic development. He has wide-ranging experience working in the Yemeni government and international NGOs. His political and professional career has focused on preventing and resolving violent conflict in Yemen and supporting development.
Most recently, he was a political and information counsellor at the Yemeni embassy in Jordan. Prior to this, he was a protocol manager for the Prime Minister of Yemen, serving three prime ministers before and after the 2014 outbreak of conflict.
Mahmoud has played a key role as diplomat in UN-led negotiations in Yemen, acting as a liaison to the UN Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen. He was part of the Yemeni government team that negotiated the reopening of roads in Taiz governorate in 2022, and he worked closely with the government of Jordan to successfully reopen Sana’a Airport in 2022.
In 2014, he spearheaded a youth initiative to de-escalate conflict between Yemen’s government and the rebel Houthi group in northern governorates of Yemen, and prior to this he co-led a series of tribal mediation initiatives in the Ibb governorate of Yemen.
Mahmoud has a BA in Political Science from Sana’a University.
Past experience
| 2017-23 | Political and Information Counsellor, Yemini Embassy, Jordan |
| 2011-16 | Manager of Protocol, Prime Minister of Yemen |
| 2009-11 | Department of Information and Decision Support, Office of the Prime Minister of Yemen |