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UN / YEMEN
STORY: UN / YEMEN
TRT: 03:25
SOURCE: UNIFEED / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 31 OCTOBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
31 OCTOBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, United Nations:
“What is extremely dangerous also is the targeting of holy city of Mecca using a ballistic missile, which is considered a dangerous development which effects the path of the war and impinges on the feelings of over one and a half billion Muslims worldwide.”
4. Med shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, United Nations:
“What I have been informed by unofficial means indicates the rejection of the parties to the roadmap which indicates the failure of the political elite in Yemen to overcome its differences and put public interest over personal interests. The time has come for parties to know that there is no peace without concessions and no security without agreements. They should invoke that which guarantees security and stability for Yemenis.”
6. Med shot, Yemeni ambassador
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, United Nations:
“Eighteen months of war and fighting, Thousands killed and injured, economic failure and a humanitarian situation which is no longer humane, we ask: How long will the Yemeni people be hostage to personal and random political decisions and what are the parties waiting for to sign a peaceful political agreement? Did those involved not understand yet that there is no winner in war?”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Muhannad Hadi, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and East Europe, World Food Programme (WFP):
“I saw faces of children that have been engraved in my mind as an iconic image of the Yemen crisis. I saw children and images, this time the real ones, that I have never seen in my 25 years working for the World Food Programme. I will never forget the children that I saw.”
10. Med shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Muhannad Hadi, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and East Europe, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Over come with emotions, I really did not know who to sympathize with more, a malnourished kid sitting on a bed, too tired, too sick even to cry, or a mother sitting next to him, too hungry, too tired even to support her child. That, not only as a humanitarian worker, but as a father, that really hurt me a lot.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Hussein Mohamed Alyemany, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations:
“Any ideas that do not lead ending the coup, the withdrawal from all cities and government institutions, handing over the weapons and missiles, and the release of prisoners represent taking the side of the militias, and the accepting the logic of terrorism and its control over the fate of people. Sustainable peace will not be achieved by rewarding the coup plotters.”
14. Wide shot, Yemeni ambassador speaking
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Hussein Mohamed Alyemany, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations:
“We in the Yemeni Government have warned more than once, and Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed knows this very well, that applying more pressure on the legitimate government would lead to the strengthening of the coup forces’ position and would not enable the international community to contribute in the effort to restore the Yemeni state but would in fact feed the feeling among the coup forces that the international community is now closer to understanding (accepting) Iran’s expansive plan in Yemen.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
The United Nations envoy for Yemen said the rejection of his roadmap to end the conflict in the country indicated “the failure of the political elite in Yemen to overcome its differences and put public interest over personal interests.”
Speaking to the Security Council today, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the roadmap he presented to parties of the conflict included the formation of military and security committees which would be tasked with monitoring withdrawals from Sana’a, Hodeida, and Taez and end violence. It would then be followed by the appointment of a new Vice President and the formation of a “government of national consensus” which would lead the transition period, oversee the political dialogue, agree on a new constitution, and carry out elections.
The Special Envoy said, “The time has come for parties to know that there is no peace without concessions and no security without agreements.” He called on the Security Council to show support for his plan and bring an immediate ceasefire to the country. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said after 18 months of fighting and a “humanitarian situation which is no longer humane” the question remained how long the Yemeni people would be “hostage to personal and random political decisions.”
Regarding the bombing of a funeral by the Saudi-led coalition which killed over 140 and injured some 550 people, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the attack went against “Yemeni tradition” and stressed that the perpetrator must be held accountable. He said the recent military escalation was “extremely dangerous” sighting the targeting of the holy city of Mecca by Houthi rebels which “impinges on the feelings of over one and a half billion Muslims worldwide.”
Addressing the Yemeni people, the Special Envoy said the “dawn of peace” could be near if officials decide to put national interest above their own and build an independent state which guarantees the rights of its citizens without prejudice.
World Food Progamme (WFP) Regional Director Muhannad Hadi said the food security situation in Yemen was “rapidly” deteriorating. He said some 7 million people were food severely insecure as of this past June adding that for parents was “scary not to know if you can serve your children a meal.”
Hadi, who recently visited Yemen, said nine out of the country’s 22 governorates were one step away from hunger. He said he saw severely malnourished children in an overcrowded clinic in Sana’a where mother reported borrowing money and selling assets just to make the trip. He added that this was “unfortunately the good side” of things because if he was given the opportunity to visit the remote areas from which these mothers came, he would have seen “children dying” and parents with no means to bring them to hospitals. He said he would “never forget the children” he saw.
Hadi said his visit to Al-Thawra hospital in Hodeida was a “defining” moment in his mission to the country as global acute malnutrition in the governorate was “one of the highest in the world.” He said he did not know whether to sympathize more with the malnourished child “too sick even to cry” or the mother “too tired even to support her child.” Hadi added that his experience at the hospital “hurt” him not only as a humanitarian but “as a father.”
Yemeni ambassador Khaled Alyemany said Houthi rebels destroyed Yemen’s capabilities and “opened the doors for hunger and disease” which is killing the people. He said peace was the only option for his government which had “responded positively and responsibly” to international initiatives to end the war. He said his government made “tough” concessions for peace which might have led some to present ideas that “constrict the understanding of sovereignty” and “lack any understanding of the social, geographical, and political background of conflict in Yemen.”
Alyemany said his government warned that applying more pressure on the legitimate government would “feed the feeling among the coup forces that the international community is now closer to understanding (accepting) Iran’s expansive plan in Yemen.”
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