United Nations Special Advisor to Yemen Jamal Benomar has stated that Yemen has reached the midpoint of its political transition process.

In his report to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Benomar said the NDC members and all groups were working together in good faith to shape Yemen’s future.

“Days ago, I stood beside President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General while the 565 NDC members launched the second plenary meeting, which marked the midpoint of NDC deliberations,” he said.

“All members, including women and youths, are committed to dialogue and conciliation instead of violence and division in a country full of weapons,” he added. 

“It is my pleasure to inform you of progress in the political transition. Most of the NDC’s working groups have submitted their final reports on the first session’s activities, which included 100 recommendations, most of which are constitutional human rights guarantees.”

“Despite deep divisions in the Sa’ada Issue Working Group, all group members reached a unified conception of the issue’s roots,’” he added.

He said that NDC members still needed to achieve conciliation on central issues which include the structure of Yemen’s future state and governance system, as well as find solutions to the southern and Sa’ada issues. Benomar also told the Security Council that the National Dialogue Conference was transcending its main site, Sana’a’s Movenpick Hotel, since people were engaged in talks to address key national issues in many parts of the country.

“The Yemeni people are conducting dialogues inside tents in various cities, holding seminars and round-table talks focused on NDC developments. Among the key steps forward were field visits by NDC members to 17 governorates, during which NDC members heard from local government officials, political factions and all societal components on the subjects of their concerns and visions of a modern, civil state,” Benomar concluded.