UK in Yemen

Nelson Mandela was buried today at his family home in Qunu, South Africa. Over the last few days I have been reflecting on Mandela’s life, his achievements, and how – through the art of forgiveness, reconciliation and the power of dialogue – Mandela brought about visionary and historic change in South Africa. With the change […]

On Wednesday night, Yemenis and their international friends drew a collective breath of horror as we saw the CCTV footage from inside the Urdhi hospital.  For those (outside Yemen) who may not know the background: on 5 December 2013 a team of suicide bombers and gunmen in military uniforms launched an attack on a hospital […]

Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Yesterday, the eighth UN sponsored ‘International Anti-Corruption Day’, the UK restated its commitment to tackling the problem both at home and abroad. I am strongly committed to the anti-corruption cause and a keen promoter of transparency within government and civil society. The […]

Today, November 30, marks the 46th anniversary of the independence of the southern part of Yemen from Britain. Following my recent visit to Aden, I was touched by a story in the media reporting that I would be attending the unveiling of the cleaned and refurbished statue of Queen Victoria which sits in the Victoria Gardens […]

Yemen’s National Dialogue continues to make progress and the closing plenary has re-started its work after the break for the Id al-Adha.  But it still faces considerable challenges: it is time to reach agreement where possible and move to the next steps.  There is a lot of valuable work done by the National Dialogue that needs […]

There are two significant events for Yemen this week outside the borders of this country. Both take place in New York. The first is the Friends of Yemen conference on Wednesday 25 September; the second a discussion on Yemen in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday 27September. Both are excellent opportunities for Yemen […]

This year’s UNGA-led International Day for Democracy (15 September) falls close to the scheduled end of Yemen’s National Dialogue, set up under the GCC Initiative to provide a framework for Yemenis to resolve the issues that led to the Youth Revolution in Yemen two years ago. It is a remarkable achievement that Yemen has managed […]

Most readers of this will be aware that we have had to withdraw our Embassy staff from Sanaa until after the Eid, because of security concerns which are now very much in the public eye.  For me it is a genuine matter of regret, having spent my first weeks in Yemen enjoying true Yemeni friendship […]

Some initial impressions from my first week and a half in Sanaa: 1. Yemen is a great country with huge potential to take control of the future of over 24 million people. The challenges, though, are immense. 2. The National Dialogue and transition process are progressing: the major questions, around the future structure of Yemen, […]

The children wanted to play football. But there wasn’t one to hand. So an older boy was dispatched on a motorbike to find one. Then after a long wait a battered ball arrived and two hundred men and boys chased a ball around a dusty patch in the middle of the village. The game was […]