As Yemenis struggle to end their six-years of war and achieve sustained peace, UN’s Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Martin Griffiths is seeking to facilitate agreement between the Yemeni parties on a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic relief and a comprehensive and inclusive political negotiation process. While engaging those who are the primary parties in the fighting is essential, they alone are unable to create a path towards a more transformative peace process. Diverse elements of Yemini society will also need to be actively involved. This paper was intended to spark discussion at a workshop on this challenge. After setting forth several basic orienting points on the centrality of civil society roles in sustainable war-to-peace transitions, this paper then outlines five key challenges where their involvement can be crucial to cultivating transformative peace processes and more inclusive, responsive and capable states.