On November 1-5, a Yemeni delegation headed by former Prime minister and Vice-President of Yemen, HE Khaled Bahah, visited Germany. The purpose of the visit was to have an exchange with representatives of various governmental and non-governmental organizations on current developments in Yemen and what could be done to promote peace and reconciliation in Yemen. A specific focus was laid on studying German federal structures to explore which lessons could be drawn for Yemen.
HE Khaled Bahah, who was also Yemen’s Ambassador to Cananda from 2009 – 2014, is currently based in Riad as an advisor to Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
In 2013-2014, until the civil war broke out, the Forum of Federations supported Yemen’s transition towards a federal country with a capacity building program for politicians and political party leaders. The Forum’s work in Yemen was mandated by the Government of Canada.
The Forum’s Berlin office organized meetings for the Yemen delegation at the Bundesrat, Germany’s second chamber, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Permanent Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the Federation. The study program also included an exchange with the Forum’s Chairman and former Minister-President of Saxony, Prof. Georg Milbradt.
Even though a peace settlement in Yemen has not yet been reached, HE Bahah was optimistic that this would happen, soon. In his meetings he emphasized that Yemen’s future state structure would be federal and that Yemen was looking towards the support of othjer federal countries to help the country build appropriate governance structures.
The visit of HE Bahah to Germany was facilitated by Muaamar Batawil, the Forum’s advisor for Yemen.
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