Hadi: Yemenis eager to see live improved, promises fulfilled

President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Thursday stressed adherence to end the current stage in a way that enhances the international community and donors' trust in Yemen's will of transition. The President stated the commitment in a letter UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has received and read it in the opening of the 5th Friends of Yemen meeting held in London today. "We assure you our adherence to carry out the rest of the Gulf initiative terms to enhance your confidence in our will of transition of Yemen to a new era maintaining its unity, security and stability." Hadi indicated to the comprehensive national dialogue conference scheduled for March 18, saying "it is the actual beginning of the new political restructuring process." He expressed hope that the meeting would speed up developing the mechanism of action that eases the methods of implementation, removes the complexity of bureaucracy and obligate both sides to act in a transparent and honest manner. "People in Yemen have been waiting for a very long time to see an improvement in their daily lives and fulfillment of the government's promises. It became necessary to see tangible results of the efforts of Yemen's friends during the remainder of the second stage of the Gulf initiative," said the President. The Foreign Ministers and representatives of over 30 states and organizations listened to a report of Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi on the achievements Yemen has made within the implementation of the Gulf initiative's second stage since the 4th Friends of Yemen meeting held in New York in September 27, 2012. "To pave the way properly for the national dialogue, the President has issued several decrees and made some measures, including forming two committees to address land disputes and dismissed civil, security and military personnel in the southern provinces." Al-Qirbi talked about the ongoing preparations for the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2014, pointing that the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) has begun to prepare the electoral register in order to ensure organized elections in accordance with the transition process timetable. He said that the President has referred to a draft law on reconciliation and transitional justice to the parliament, adding that the law aimed at addressing the crimes and damages occurred in 2011 and compensate the victims. The Foreign Minister called Friends of Yemen to declare a strong position to back the Yemeni government against any foreign interference in its internal political affairs and any attempts to disturb the political process and the implementation of the Gulf initiative. He said that that Yemen needs help to watch its coastline and monitor the ships trying to smuggle weapons and drugs into Yemen. Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mohammed al-Sa'adi also presented a report on the economic situation under the phased program for the stability and development 2012-2014. The report dealt with three mean themes; the economic developments in the country, progress in the allocation of donors' funds and the implementation of the mutual accountability framework between the government and donors and the future actions required of the government and donors. Al-Sa'adi said that the Riyadh donors meeting and Friends of Yemen meeting in New York have announced pledges of $8 billion to Yemen assisted in covering 67% of the financing gap for the phased program for the stability and development amounting to $11.9 billion. Many donors had made considerable progress in allocating their financial pledges, he said, adding that 74% of the total pledges have been allocated. The 5th meeting of Friends of Yemen group is co-chaired by Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Britain. The co-chairmanship of the meeting will issue a statement, showing the attitude of Yemen's friends to the political transition process in the country. The Friends of Yemen group was formed in January 2010 in London during a meeting at ministerial level of the group's state members held to mobilize the international support to reinforce Yemen's efforts to achieve the comprehensive development, tackle the reasons behind instability and help the government fight terrorism. Since foundation, the group held four ministerial meetings. The first was in London on January 24, 2010 followed by a meeting held in New York, USA, on September 24 of the same year. The third and fourth meetings held in 2012 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, (May 23) and New York (September 27). The group consists of 39 countries and regional and international organizations; they are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, United Kingdom, United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Turkey, the Netherlands, Algeria, Australia, Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, Czech, Denmark, India, Spain, Indonesia, Switzerland, Italy, Tunisia and Canada. The member organizations in the group are Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League, European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), and OPEC.