During the past week, the nine NDC working groups attempted to complete discussions of their first session final reports. Six working groups were in successful in doing so, while the Southern Issue, Sa’ada Issue and State-Building Working Groups will require additional time to complete their in-group discussions.
Meanwhile, the NDC Consensus Committee allocated an additional three days for working groups to discuss and utilize notes taken during the conference’s second plenary session.
Members of the NDC’s Southern Issue Working Group voted to approve their first session final report. By the time the report was completed, it included notes and recommendations from representations of the General People’s Congress and Yemeni Socialist Parties.
Group Chairman Mohammed Ali Ahmed called for a page to be turned on the past. This past, he added, ended on March 18, the day Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference commenced.
''Unification is something wonderful, but Yemen’s unity was deformed by injustice at the hands of certain elements from the last regime, which stole wealth,” said Ahmed during a speech before the full conference membership on Tuesday.
Speaking to a full crowd of NDC members from all nine conference working groups, Ahmed said, ''You members, you will draw the roadmap and shape Yemen’s new era.''
Secretariat General and Conciliation Commission Activity
In a volunteer effort, more than 120 members of the NDC Secretariat General's staff created a 300 meter-wide and 40 meter-high visual rendition the National Dialogue Conference slogans ‘The Inclusive National Dialogue Conference’ and ‘With Dialogue, We Shape the Future’ on Thursday.
Using painted rocks, the slogans were pieced together in Arabic on the side of Sana’a’s Faj Attan Mountain.
Last Saturday, NDC Secretary General Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak met with World Bank Executive Director Merza Hasan.
In the meeting, bin Mubarak reviewed signs of progress in the NDC. The two also discussed ways in which support for the conference could be provided by the World Bank.
He also briefed Hasan on the NDC working groups’ processes and achievements thus far. bin Mubarak stated that the nine working groups had completed their final reports and went on to note that the conference had had more success than was previously anticipated.
Arab Parliament President Ahmed Mohammed Al-Jarwan praised what he called ‘sincere, well-prepared efforts’ to prevent conflict from breaking out in Yemen.
“You are continuing to engage in dialogue to find the best solutions to Yemen’s problems and to preserve your country’s stability and security in a democratic atmosphere of brotherhood,” said Al-Jarwan in a speech delivered before the full NDC membership on Sunday.
The NDC’s Consensus Committee approved a plan for the coming weeks of NDC activity on Sunday.
At the meeting, the commission members agreed to specify a final date for working groups to submit their respective plans.
The committee also approved a technical committee report concerning working group reports, notes and recommendations, as well as a voting mechanism for decisions in the NDC’s second plenary session.
On Wednesday, the committee members agreed to request that the NDC Secretariat General prepare a mechanism concerned with following up on NDC decisions.
The committee also requested that the Secretariat General prepare a draft of the mechanism, which will provide guidelines for the holding of the NDC’s final plenary session and the creation and handling of working group final reports.
On Wednesday, the NDC's Community Participation Unit participated in the closing ceremony of a seminar entitled "Community Participation and the Youth’s Role in Supporting the National Dialogue." The seminar was organized by the Yemeni Youth General Union.
Speaking on behalf of the NDC Secretariat General, Mona Al-Fakeh stressed the importance of holding such seminars, which aim to integrate youth visions with the National Dialogue Conference and its activities.
On Thursday, as part of a visit to the U.S., NDC Secretary General bin Mubarak delivered a lecture on conference at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) in Washington, D.C.
In the lecture, a spotlight was placed on the conference’s different stages, on the working groups’ dynamics, and on NDC field visits and community participation efforts.
The overall attendance rate for NDC members over the past week was 89%.
