On the 28th of January 2016, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Yemen Abdul-Malik Al-Mikhlafi visited ESCWA headquarters in Beirut where he met with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf. This was an occasion to meet with ESCWA directors of divisions and discuss with him the role that could be played by the Commission in the context of supporting Yemen during the upcoming phase, more particularly in the fields of institutionalization and capacity building and in what concerns the process of planning for recovery and reconstruction in Yemen.

Moreover, efforts made by Yemeni institutions had produced a list of requirements concerning the initial phase after the signing of the peace agreement or the cease-fire, through which the Ministry of Planning had identified three priorities: security, justice and community reconciliation; prosperity and economic and social well-being; and social welfare.

In this context, ESCWA could provide support to the Yemeni people and its institutions by contributing to reconstruction, recovery and reconciliation processes through providing knowledge and capacity building and by mobilizing partners on the basis of the national agenda for development and recovery in order to help Yemen transition from a conflict situation to a sustainable development path.

In the process of reconciliation and recovery in Yemen, ESCWA could also constitute a study centre and a facilitating framework through which expertise in analysis, advisory services and programs would be provided. These activities and programs to be undertaken by ESCWA would place equal importance on responding to the requirements in the short term and continuing to focus on the root causes of conflict and on planning to solve them in the future.

For his part, Mikhlafi touched on the efforts to end the Yemeni crisis and the needs of the country. He then met with a group of representatives of research centers, intellectuals and media personalities in a dialogue session under the theme of "Peace and Reconstruction Challenges in Yemen", before concluding his visit by meeting with the Arab ambassadors accredited to Lebanon.

These discussions come within the framework of the continued cooperation between ESCWA and Yemeni officials aiming at the preparation of projects and programs to help the Yemen people and their institutions, during the next phase.