As a prelude to the completion of its final report for the NDC’s first session, Good Governance Working Group members have been busy describing committee activity reports. The group’s final report should provide basic recommendations for Yemen’s new constitution which satisfy the requirements of a modern, civil state.

Already, the group has approved reports which were submitted by the committees on the roles of political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs) and justice and equality.

The former committee’s recommendations included efforts to improve the system by which licenses are approved for parties and to criminalize the misuse of public funds, media outlets, and military institutions for individual or personal interests.

Constitutional recommendations from the justice and equality committee included a general point that all citizens must be treated equally under the law and a more specific point that Yemeni women and youths must have respective representation rates of 30% and 20% in Yemen’s legislative, judicial and executive branch institutions.

Further recommendations called for compulsory, free education, a separation of powers, the prohibition of efforts to tamper with the constitution, and the prevention of conflicts of interest between government authorities and private businesses.

Meanwhile, the State-Building Working Group continued to listen as political party representatives provided ‘visions’ of the structure of Yemen’s future state, electoral system, governance system, and legislative and judicial branches.

Separately, the group completed a final report on its members’ activities over the past two months.