Aden (South24) 

Today, the European Institute of Peace (EIP) announced the return of its team from a week-long visit to the city of Aden, South Yemen.

The EIP said in a tweet that their delegation included the institute's senior programme officer, Jamie Pleydell-Bouverie, and the regional advisor to the Yemen team, Thanos Petouris. Their visit included meetings with politicians, government officials, women activists and representatives of civil society in Aden.

The EIP said that their visit to South comes to get first-hand experience of the conditions and developments on the ground. They pointed out that the Southern Dialogue enjoys a high degree of support from the Southern parties.

The EIP affirmed its support for an "inclusive political dialogue among Southern Yemenis."

The EIP team met with the STC President and the Presidential Council member Aidrous Al-Zubaidi along with other senior STC officials. 

The team also met ministers in the parity government and officials of the local authority in Aden, in addition to senior officials from the Socialist Party, the Supreme Council of the Revolutionary Movement (Hirak), women and civil society activists.

The EIP said that its team exchanged ideas with South24 Center office director in Aden on the Southern Dialogue process and the current living conditions in Aden and [South] Yemen.

The EIP is an independent public institution backed by a number of European governments, and its activities range from facilitating local reconciliation to support for mediators, from building capacity of negotiators to high level, quiet consultations.

The EIP is active in a number of countries in the Middle East and Africa, including Yemen. In recent years, the EIP has sought to organize dialogues that brought together several Southern parties and public figures in its quest to reconcile these parties.