Archives: News

17 June 2023: NRM’s political track held a discussion session with Abdul Bari Taher, a leading Yemeni thinker, on the Yemeni crisis and the role of civil forces in stopping the war and reaching peace.

In the session, which was moderated by Nadia Al-Najjar, a member of NRM’s Education Track, Taher pointed out that the danger of war still exists despite the improvement that has occurred since the beginning of the truce, adding that the armed militias and their leaders have no interest in stopping the war and are not serious about seeking peace, and will stand in the face of peace advocates for their interests.

Taher said that the situation of no war and no peace is very dangerous because it drains everyone and establishes grounds for future conflicts, pointing out that the Saudi-Iranian agreement can be an introduction to a promising solution, but no positive results have been reflected so far, and that it will be a great disaster if the regional countries involved in the conflict solve their problems and leave Yemen to its own fate and disavow their responsibility at this stage.

On the Legitimate Government, Taher said that the regional powers are not serious about supporting the Legitimacy, which is being weakened and dismantled in the South by supporting the militias deployed also in Taiz, Marib, Hodeidah, and other places.

Speaking about the political parties in Yemen, Taher said that the parties are divided, they fled the battle before it happened and were distributed on the map of the war and the militias, which are more dependent on the regional conflict and have become part of the problem, he said.

On the forces of peace at home, Taher stressed that the calls for peace are still elitist and do not have a significant impact among the people, and have not yet turned into influential forces in the national arena, and they are weak and dispersed, and did not agree on joint action to have an effective impact, stressing the need to exert all efforts to bring down the barrier of fear among people and turn the rejection of war and the call for peace into a popular act everywhere even if there were sacrifices.

At the end of the meeting, a number of participants expressed their happiness to discuss with a national figure and a great thinker such as Taher and considered his speech an element of inspiration that gave everyone positive energy and a strong spirit to achieve the goals of NRM and its efforts to stop the war and achieve peace, and raised the sense of responsibility to start to find an inclusive framework for all peace initiatives inside and outside Yemen.

24 June 2023: A delegation from NRM-UK met with Major General Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, Vice Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), and President of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Birmingham.

In the meeting, which took place in a special session, the delegation presented a brief overview of NRM as a political gathering that works with all peace-devoted forces to end the war in Yemen, address its consequences and promote national reconciliation, review the achievements of the Movement and its current and future projects, and its efforts to draft a political action charter for peace and unify the Yemeni peace forces inside and outside Yemen, and overcome the challenges facing those efforts, in addition to what this meeting represents of building a building block and bridge for future communication between NRM and the PLC as well as the STC.

In the framework of his comment, Al-Zubaidi welcomed the efforts of NRM in various peace projects, and urged efforts to be extensive from within Yemen to have a great impact, stressing that the channels of communication with the PLC and the STC will continue to be available to NRM to activate dialogue and to build on what has been done in the South-South dialogue at the national level in Yemen, stressing the importance of keeping pace with the changes on the ground.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Shadi Basurrah (Head of the Foreign Relations Track), Dr. Fadhl Al-Maghafi (Head of the Political Track), Dr. Mahmood Alazani (Head of the State Building Track), and Dr. Mahdi Motahar (Member of NRM-UK and the Health Track).

21 May 2023: NRM’s political track hosted Mr. Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah, former Vice President and Prime Minister, to highlight the Yemeni crisis, challenges, and opportunities for a solution.

At the beginning of the meeting, which was moderated by Dr. Balqees Abu Asba – a founding member of NRM, Bahah spoke about the political transformations since the Yemeni Consultations in Riyadh last year 2022, and said that the engineering of the new Legitimacy, despite its good intentions, has produced a more difficult and complex situation and that during a year of the Presidential Leadership Council, great challenges have emerged, especially the lack of integration and homogeneity of its components, and the divergence of projects and powers for its members. He added that “all this has not resulted in any tangible positive reflection on the government’s performance”.

Bahah also pointed out that the current truce is important, but it is still conditional. It is threatened to collapse, adding that he fears that it is just tactical to make concessions and whatever could be taken from the Legitimacy, which will be left empty-handed after it has provided everything. He added that if things continue with this performance, “it worries us, and will cost a whole generation of setbacks”.

“Achieving lasting peace is a major task that requires a clear strategy otherwise it will be just in the interest of one party at the expense of the homeland”, Bahah said. He stressed that “we need a comprehensive political track and dialogue similar to what happened in the Kuwait Peace Talks in 2016”.

With regard to the Southern Issue, Bahah said that the equation between the hopes of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and its inclusive nature is an equation so far that is moving towards being dragged into the past rather than into the concept of political action and learning from previous experiences in the South. He noted that the outcomes of the recent Southern Consultations in Aden are advanced in theory, but what is unacceptable is those narcissistic practices carried out by the STC, which are still in contradiction with the outcomes of the Southern Consultations themselves, pointing that the STC’s latest moves in Hadramout and the introduction of armed forces are not familiar actions in Hadramout, and such practices will have immediate and far-reaching repercussions.

As for the Houthis, Bahah said, “I still use the term ‘our Houthi brothers‘ and I did not use any other term despite the challenges we face with them, but the high ceilings do not serve peace, we cannot go to what the Houthis want, but they should come to the dialogue table with the rest of all brothers, and we have a lot of references about the form of the next state, including the draft constitution, and everything can be discussed by dialogue away from the language of violence, for Yemen is for everyone at the end of the matter.

14 May 2023: NRM’s political track organized a fruitful discussion session on exploring every avenue for a national and comprehensive political solution in Yemen with Dr. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Assistant Secretary General of the General People’s Congress.

During the session, Al-Qirbi stressed the importance of the NRM adopting the Yemeni national reconciliation project and playing an active role in engaging with all concerned parties, stressing the need for constructive communication and presenting approaches and visions that can contribute to a real partnership and a comprehensive political solution in Yemen leading to a stable Yemen, free of wars and conflicts.

Al-Qirbi pointed to the importance of establishing a national movement committed to the principles of the NRM, calling for dedicating more efforts and collaboration to reach all actors and promote national reconciliation among all parties.

Speaking about the developments in the Yemeni scene, Al-Qirbi expressed his hope that the concerned parties will find a way to reconciliation, stressing that a sustainable solution to the Yemeni issue can only be achieved through serious internal dialogue and reducing dependence on external parties that prioritize their interests. Al-Qirbi also said that the international community is still united towards the Yemeni issue, especially the five countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, and Oman), although their interests differ at times.

15 June 2023: NRM recently participated in the Yemeni International Forum in The Hague, which took place from June 12-15, 2023. During the forum, NRM presented its vision for a possible solution to the Yemeni crisis, which includes three main pillars:

1. Political: NRM believes that a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue is essential to achieving peace. The dialogue should be inclusive and should guarantee the participation of women, youth, minorities, and civil society activists.
2. Economic: NRM believes that economic recovery is essential to long-term peace in Yemen, and proposes strengthening the flexibility of the economy and early economic recovery, with a focus on the banking sector and the reactivation of the main economic sectors.
3. Justice and reconciliation: NRM believes that justice and reconciliation are essential to building a lasting peace in Yemen. It proposes building a peace that will address the injustices suffered by victims, respect human rights, and promote equal citizenship and social solidarity.

In addition, NRM’s representatives also held several meetings with Yemeni political leaders, political forces, and active organizations in the international community. During these meetings, they reported on NRM’s activities and its continued initiatives to bring all political forces together in order to push them towards a political process that will lead to a comprehensive, fair, and sustainable peace.

NRM’s representatives participated in these meetings included: Ahmed Al-Khameri, Afrah alzouba, Khalid Abdulwahid Noman, Rafat Al-Akhali, Shadi Bassura, Fares Al-Himyari, Faisal Amin Aboras, and Noha Al-junaid. The Yemen International Forum was held for four days and was organized by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies supported by the Netherlands, the European Union, Norway and Open Society Foundations.

8 June 2023: Two NRM leaders met with Mark Clark MBE, the CEO of Generations for Peace (GFP) – an international organization based in Amman that works to build sustainable peace and conflict resolution at the grassroots level and empowers young leaders to promote a culture of forgiveness in their societies.

In the meeting, which was attended also by Lina Mamoni (the Coordinator of Tamadon Foundation), a number of areas of cooperation between NRM and GFP were discussed, including the upcoming consultation meeting of peace initiatives in Yemen held in Amman in the middle of July, under the supervision of NRM’s Internal Communications Team.

Dr Hamdan Dammag (head of NRM’s cultural and media track) and Dr Mahmood Alazani (head of NRM’s state building track) represented NRM in the meeting.

8 May 2023: the political track in NRM hosted Mr. Saleh Alnoud, spokesman for the Office of the Transitional Council (STC) as well as Mr. Qassem Daoud, head of the Aden Monitoring, Studies, and Training Center, to highlight the Yemeni scene and the challenges and opportunities for a solution, and especially to talk about the Southern Consultative Meeting that has just concluded. The meeting was moderated by Dr. Shadi Bassura, head of NRM’s foreign relations track.

In his interference, Mr. Qassem Daoud reviewed the outcomes of the Southern consultative meeting. He said that the meeting was a lesson for adopting dialogue as a method to resolve differences, and considered it a positive step that brought together multiple groups. He said that this meeting is an achievement for all democratic forces in the North and South, and stressed that dialogue and politics are the best way out of the war. He added that such consultative meetings are vital because, unfortunately, the traditional political parties have become part of the problem and have aged prematurely.

For his part, Mr. Saleh Alnoud said that the Southern Issue is as old as the Unity itself, that the Southern Consultative Meeting is a continuation of many bilateral dialogues, and that the participation of the STC in them is interim in order to obtain real reconciliation and partnerships, and that the continuation of work with the legitimate government is subject to the availability of guarantees. Alnoud stated that the goal in the end is to restore the Southern State, as the suffering caused an aversion to the Unity. He hinted that the marginalization of the Southern Issue dominated the National Dialogue in 2013 in its true sense, an attempt to disperse the South and that the major disaster was the invasion of the South in 2015. Alnoud warned of the danger of the continued seizure of power in the North by Houthis and the possibility of them trying to invade the South again.

The meeting concluded with a discussion where the attendees stressed the importance of the Southern Consultative Meeting as long as the dialogue is adopted to resolve differences, build political reconciliation, and renounce violence, but some warned of the danger of the STC claiming to represent the politically diverse South between supporters of the STC and others who believe in the Unity, and some considered what the STC is doing contrary to previous agreements it signed, including the Riyadh Agreement and its participation in the Presidential Leadership Council.

3 May 2023: As part of his visit to the health sector in Taiz, Taher Qassem MBE, head of NRM-UK, and a member of NRM’s health track, met with Dr Khalil al-Kahlani, director of the Higher Institute of Health Sciences in Taiz. They discussed what NRM’s health track can do to provide the support needed by the institute and the health sector in Taiz in general.

May 1, 2023: As part of its continuous efforts to reach a comprehensive and sustainable peace in Yemen that meets the aspirations and rights of the Yemeni people, the National Reconciliation Movement (NRM) held a consultative meeting with several influential leading Yemeni women from various political affiliations, civil societies, international organizations as well as from its members.

In the meeting, which took place online, and moderated by Dr. Roza Al-Khamri and Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Salehi (both from the NRM’s Internal Communication Team), the importance of conducting serious and transparent inclusive dialogue, to revise the concept of peace in Yemen, has been discussed. The attendees also stressed the need to establish a broad national coalition of peace for all Yemeni peace initiatives both inside and outside Yemen, to support the peace process and enhance the role of women and youth in it, and the importance of providing the necessary support of such coalition by different parties, organizations and personalities interested in peace inside and outside Yemen.

Delegations from the Yemeni National Reconciliation Movement (NRM) recently visited influential regional countries in Yemeni affairs, including KSA, Egypt, and UAE.

These visits, coordinated by NRM’s Foreign Relations Track, are part of NRM’s efforts to support the peace process, stop the war, and push the conflicting parties to sit at the negotiation table.

Because the NRM believes in the importance of a Yemeni-Yemeni solution, these visits aimed at communication, coordination, and discussion with several high-ranking, active Yemeni leaders present in these countries. The NRM hopes these individuals will contribute directly to reviving and progressing the peace talks and define the priorities and features of the coming transitional phase. The meetings included former presidents, prime ministers, politicians, military leaders, leaderships of Yemeni parties, and social and tribal figures. NRM’s delegations also met with a number of leading figures in these regional countries and briefed them on NRM’s efforts in the peacebuilding process in Yemen.

During these visits and discussions, everyone reached a clear conclusion – regardless of their orientations, political affiliations, and position in the Yemeni crisis – that the war in Yemen must stop first, for it has caused an unprecedented economic and humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people across Yemen. Moreover, the current state of no war and no peace has caused further social and political fragmentation and more economic collapse that may lead to armed conflicts between all Yemeni parties, including those in alliance. This would, in turn, negatively affect the stability and security in the region.

During the visits, the delegates confirmed NRM’s positive neutrality and its standing at the same distance from all parties, in line with its goals and national constants aimed at a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace that leads to rebuilding the Yemeni state on the bases of development, democracy, freedoms, social justice, and equal citizenship.