UNSC welcomes Yemen\'s political progress

Members of the UN Security Council welcomed the progress made to date in Yemen's ongoing political transition process and the Yemeni Government's efforts to reconstruct the economy and safeguard security, including the National Dialogue Conference. A statement by the Council late last night said the Conference has generated "a peaceful, inclusive and meaningful dialogue about the country's future amongst diverse actors, including youth, women, civil society representatives, the Houthi Movement and the Hiraak Southern Movement." The Members, however, expressed concern over the significant delays in concluding the National Dialogue Conference and emphasized the importance of concluding the National Dialogue Conference as soon as possible to move to constitutional drafting and electoral preparations, as the next steps in the transition. The statement also called on all parties to engage constructively in a spirit of compromise to address the remaining critical issues necessary to conclude the dialogue, in particular those concerning the southern question and the structure of the State. They also reiterated concern over continuing reports of interference by those intent on disrupting, delaying or derailing the transition process and undermining the Yemeni Government. "The members of the Security Council condemned any such attempts, whether by members of the former regime or political opportunists, notably by abstaining from participation in the National Dialogue Conference, threatening to do so or standing in the way of a consensus agreement to conclude the National Dialogue." The UNSC underlined commitment to follow closely the peaceful political transition in Yemen, and emphasized that the conclusion of the political transition should be based on the completion of the steps contained in the GCC Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism. The members concluded by reaffirming commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen