UN chief vows to pUsh for YemeN peace
Special envoy heading to UAE, Oman and Aden for more talks
geneva — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged the warring sides in Yemen to reach a political settlement to end a conflict now in its fourth year that has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid.
His special envoy Martin Griffiths will head to the UAE, Oman and the Yemeni city of Aden in the drive for peace, Guterres told reporters.
Griffiths has already held talks with both sides in the war which has drawn in regional powers, meeting Houthi authorities who hold the capital Sanaa as well as internationally-recognised Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Saudi officials in Riyadh.
Guterres said he saw “positive perspectives” for preparing a plan of action “to lead to an effective inter-Yemeni dialogue able to achieve a political solution, with of course the involvement of all those that are relevant in this conflict”.
“I am optimistic about that possibility,” the UN chief added.
Guterres was speaking on the sidelines of a UN pledging conference where Saudi Arabia and the UAE drew praise. He announced that more than $2 billion has been pledged towards a UN humanitarian appeal of $3 billion for Yemen this year. It includes $930 million from Saudi Arabia and the UAE which lead the coalition air strikes.
“As important as the financial contributions to the conference is the commitment of parties to the conflict to come together to put an end to the war,” Guterres said.
Yemeni Foreign Minister AbdelMalek Al Mekhlafi called for a return to the negotiating table and said that his government was working to open ports and airports to aid. “We need to find the ideal solution which is a return to the talks table, to put an end the war, to return to a sustainable system supported by the people of Yemen,” he said.
84m People are on the verge of famine in Yemen, says UN
geneva — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring sides in Yemen on Tuesday to reach a political settlement to end a four-year-old conflict that has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel Malek Al Mekhlafi echoed the call for a return to the negotiating table and said that his internationallyrecognised government was working to open ports and airports to humanitarian aid.
The UN conference, which is seeking pledges towards a $3 billion funding appeal to address the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, takes place a day after an air strike killed 12 civilians in the coastal city of Hodeidah and the Houthi rebels later targeted Saudi Arabia’s southern border area with a missile.
“A negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only solution. I urge all parties to engage with my new Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, without delay,” Guterres told the one-day conference.
“All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food and the fuel needed to deliver them. Sanaa airport is also a lifeline that must be kept open,” he said. The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than 2 million and driven the country — already the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula — to the verge of famine. Hodeidah is Yemen’s biggest port where most of the humanitarian aid enters for millions of hungry civilians but the government accuses Houthis who control the port of smuggling weapons through it.
Mekhlafi said: “We need to find the ideal solution which is a return to the talks table, to put an end the war, to return to a sustainable system supported by the people of Yemen, including the putschist parties and those supported by the international community.”
The country’s unity and territorial integrity must be preserved, he added.
When the Houthis fired missiles at Riyadh last November, the coalition responded by shutting Yemen’s airports and ports.
The United Nations said that blockade raised the danger of starvation and it was partially lifted. —
$3b The UN needs to help an estimated 13 million people in need
I urge all parties to engage with my new Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, without delay Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General
We need to find the ideal solution which is a return to the talks table, to put an end the war. Abdel Malek Al Mekhlafi, Yemen Foreign Minister