Griffiths: UN monitors needed to observe Yemen ceasefire
HALEY CALLS FOR ACTION TO ADDRESS ‘IRANIAN AGGRESSION AT THE ROOT OF THE CRISIS’
The UN envoy for Yemen called Friday for the urgent deployment of UN monitors to observe the implementation of a ceasefire in the strategic port city of Hodeida and the withdrawal of rival forces — a potential breakthrough in Yemen’s four-year civil war.
Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that a speedy presence in the field is “an essential part of the confidence” needed to accompany implementation of Thursday’s agreement between Yemen’s government and Al Houthi militia reached after eight days of negotiations in Sweden.
Griffiths said in a video briefing from Amman that Dutch Maj Gen Patrick Cammaert will lead the monitoring mission and could be in the region “as soon as the middle of next week.”
Caution urged
While calling the achievements at the talks “a significant step forward,” Griffiths also urged caution saying “what’s in front of us is a daunting task ... and the hard work is only about to begin.”
The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sana’a, by Iranianbacked Al Houthi militia, who toppled the legitimate government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition allied with Yemen’s internationally recognised government has been fighting Al Houthis since 2015.
Fighting recently intensified near the port of Hodeida, the ■
Main entry point for food and aid supplies for millions of Yemenis lifeline for the delivery of 70 per cent of Yemen’s humanitarian aid and imports including food and fuel.
Griffiths said the “ghastly prospect” of famine has made solving the fighting in Hodeida “both urgent and necessary.”
UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the council after chairing a meeting with the heads of key UN and humanitarian agencies earlier Friday that “the good news we have heard this week has not yet had any material impact on the millions of people who need assistance.”
He said the results of the latest analysis of the crisis “decisively confirm Yemen’s descent toward famine,” with more than 20 million people — two-thirds of the population — hungry and in need of aid. This includes for the first time 250,000 people facing “catastrophe,” which is defined as “starvation, death and destitution,” he said.
Britain has drafted a resolution on Yemen, and UK Ambassador Karen Pierce said she will work “expeditiously” with council colleagues to revise it to endorse the agreements reached in Sweden, support their implementation, address the monitoring requirements, “and set out urgent next steps.”
No time to lose
“We have no time to lose,” Pierce said. “We need to bring about tangible improvements for the people of Yemen and we need to do that as swiftly as we can.”
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said pictures of suffering Yemenis and babies starving to death demand “that we take action to hold all the warring parties accountable”, address “the Iranian aggression at the root of the crisis”, and deliver life-saving assistance.
She said the Security Council “must be ready to act if one or more of the parties fails to follow through” on implementation.
Looking ahead, Griffiths said both sides agreed to meet again at the end of January and discuss his framework for a political solution to the war that will restore peace to Yemen. ■