The 23rd Annual Meeting of the British-Yemeni Society
The British-Yemeni Society (B-YS) held its 23rd annual meeting on June 1st, 2016, in the presence of Dr.Yassin Saeed Noman, our Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland. A number of members and those interested in Yemen affairs were among the attendees to the event. Speaking to the audience, His Excellency Dr. Yassin said “the Yemenis were present in the UK since 1860, and perhaps are the oldest established Muslim community in the country.”
In the speech, H.E. Dr. Noman said that our objectives are to promote friendship, work to secure human values of peace, liberty and democracy, and to advance public knowledge in Britain about Yemen’s history, geography, economy, and culture. In a deep analysis about the problems of Yemen and the solutions, he added that Yemen’s accumulated problems; including security and instability, can be solved with a comprehensive set of measures to strengthen the economy, improve education and the relative dynamics of socio-economic development, eradication of poverty and injustice; and above all, endorsement of law enforcement. He added that the Yemeni-British relations and political ties can be perceived as one of the strongest in the Arab region. This fact can be seen in its obvious signs through the serious efforts of the British government, which is working alongside the Yemeni government, to help the Yemenis find a sustainable solution to end this conflict. All these efforts have the potential of reaching a considerably final agreement to stop the war. The resumption of the political process is looming in the far distance, with the hope that the talks in Kuwait could to some extent, achieve a quite good deal of success.H.E. concluded by expressing his gratitude to the B-YS, who played a great role in standing behind the people of Yemen in this dark dilemma, and offered its full endorsement to the efforts of humanitarian relief.B-YS Chairman Dr. Robert Wilson welcomed the Ambassador and the attendees to the meeting, and thanked them for their continued support to the B-YS and its activities. He expressed his regrets about the conflict happening in Yemen, and acknowledged that progress to reach a solution is moving slowly to put an end to the suffering of the Yemenis. Finally, he said that there are slight optimistic signs and development in the talks between the parties in Kuwait, who seemed to have agreed to a prisoner exchange on the eve of Ramadan. Dr. Wilson reviewed the programs implemented by the B-YS during last year, and indicated that they are seeking to expand the Society's activities and cooperation between the two sides. The meeting endorsed the annual financial report, and discussed the notes to the accounts for the year 2015, in which the amount of more than six thousand pounds were contributed to Medicines Sans Frontiers and the Red Cross in Yemen, as a direct emergency aid expense. Mr. John Huggins was nominated by The Assembly as Honorary Treasurer. Most current members of the Executive Committee have agreed to stand for a further year.
