Meeting with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen

On Monday, 23 October, I met His Excellency Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen, and His Excellency, Yassin Saeed Noman, the Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the UK during a meeting in Parliament to discuss the situation in Yemen. 

Mr Grundberg has been  Ambassador of the European Union to Yemen since 2019, bringing over 20 years of experience in international affairs, including over 15 years working in conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation, with a focus on the Middle East.  He previously headed the Gulf Division at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm during the time that Sweden hosted the United Nations-facilitated negotiations that culminated in the Stockholm Agreement in 2018. 

Dr Yassin Saeed Noman ​Ahmed held various roles in the Republic of Yemen, notably as Prime Minister of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen between 1986 and 1990 when Yemen unified forming the modern-day Republic of Yemen, and Speaker of the House (or President of the House of Representatives of Yemen) between 1990 and 1993. Since 2012 he also serves as a Political Advisor to the President and Deputy Chairman of the National Dialogue Conference. 

Mr Grundberg is working with all parties towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Yemen is facing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. It is in the grips of an ongoing conflict that has killed more than 10,000 civilians and injured tens and thousands more since it began in 2015. Over 2 million people have been displaced as Yemen’s civil war continues to rage. Food, medicines and shelter are in desperately short supply. Fields and cities are littered with landmines and explosives, making it impossible for families to return home and aid cannot reach those reliant on it to survive. 

I want to see a permanent ceasefire in the country and a political reconciliation between the warring factions.