I have come to you today with an open mind, an open heart and open hands.

I have come with an open mind, because this is the first visit of the head of UNV to Yemen since 1982.

Forty years is a long time.

There is a lot to reconnect, to absorb and to adjust.

Last week, my father called me from Moscow and asked where I was going. I said, I am going to Yemen.

He was happy to hear that and asked me if I knew that Yemen is one of only ten countries mentioned in the Holy Q’uran.