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UN / YEMEN
STORY: UN / YEMEN
TRT: 03:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 FEBRUARY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
FILE- NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
27 FEBRUARY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, United Nations:
“In our meetings, we have discussed every detail in the peace roadmap with a clear timeline and taking into consideration the parties’ needs and concerns. Today, I would like to announce for the first time that we had in place a full comprehensive agreement in consultation with all parties, but they refused in the final hours, in fact final minutes, to sign it. It was clear at the end of consultations that the Houthis are not willing, in this phase, to make security concessions, or even discussing the details of comprehensive security arrangements which was a major obstacle to reaching a negotiated solution.”
3. Med shot, ambassadors
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, United Nations:
“We see daily reports of civilians dying of poverty, hunger, and disease. However, we must not forget that there are politicians on all sides who are making a living from war, arms trading, and exploiting public property for personal gain. In their speeches, we hear them at times stirring up strife to deepen the divide in the Yemeni society, and other times announcing stances which support peace. But in fact, we hear them in private meetings not worried about the suffering of their people. Those who want peace create solutions not excuses. I repeat, those who want peace create solutions not excuses.”
5. Med shot, ambassadors
6. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Operational Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
“More people are going hungry, and famine remains a real threat. Although cholera cases are in decline, the disease is not yet beaten and is likely to rebound in the upcoming rainy season. In the meantime, a diphtheria outbreak- the first since 1982 - has emerged. These are the consequences of a man-made crisis that only a political solution can bring to an end.”
7. Wide shot, Ging and Yemeni ambassador
8. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Operational Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
“Authorities in Sana'a continue to delay humanitarian movements and impose bureaucratic impediments that interfere with humanitarian action. These include tong delays in customs clearance for essential supplies such as diphtheria treatment and fuel, ad hoc restrictions on movements of humanitarian partners and refusal to authorize humanitarian assessments. In recent weeks, humanitarian staff have also been temporarily detained without justification, and their equipment confiscated at checkpoints.”
9. Med shot, ambassadors
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Hussein Mohamed Alyemany, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations:
“Your Council failed yesterday in sending a clear message to Iran. This spectacular failure will only instigate and encourage Iran and its terrorist tentacles in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen, to go further. The ambiguous messages will be translated into more violence, ballistic missiles, and further tragedy.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said today (27 Feb) there are politicians on all sides of the conflict “making a living from war, arms trading, and exploiting public property for personal gain” adding that “those who want peace create solutions not excuses.”
In his final address to the Security Council as Special Envoy, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the warring parties continued to practice zero-sum politics while disregarding the suffering of the Yemeni people caused by the conflict. He said while daily reports of civilians dying of poverty, hunger, and disease continued, “we must not forget that there are politicians on all sides who are making a living from war, arms trading, and exploiting public property for personal gain; in their speeches, we hear them at times stirring up strife to deepen the divide in the Yemeni society, and other times announcing stances which support peace; but in fact, we hear them in private meetings not worried about the suffering of their people.”
The Special Envoy revealed that a full comprehensive agreement in consultation with all parties was in place, “but they refused in the final hours, in fact final minutes, to sign it.” He said, “It was clear at the end of consultations that the Houthis are not willing, in this phase, to make security concessions, or even discussing the details of comprehensive security arrangements which was a major obstacle to reaching a negotiated solution.”
Ould Cheikh Ahmed reiterated his call to the parties to stop the fight and return to negotiations adding that only the Yemeni decision-makers could stop the war and bloodshed.
John Ging, the Director of Operations and Advocacy for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said that after three years of conflict, conditions in Yemen are catastrophic. Ging noted that a record 22.2 million people need humanitarian assistance or protection in Yemen, including 8.4 million people who are severely food insecure. He said about 400,000 children under five are also severely malnourished and they are ten times likelier to die without treatment than their healthy peers.
SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Operational Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
“More people are going hungry, and famine remains a real threat. Although cholera cases are in decline, the disease is not yet beaten and is likely to rebound in the upcoming rainy season. In the meantime, a diphtheria outbreak- the first since 1982 - has emerged. These are the consequences of a man-made crisis that only a political solution can bring to an end.”
Yemeni ambassador Khaled Alyemany said the only way for peace in his country was for Houthi rebels to leave the cities and institutions they had occupied, and to hand over their weapons to the government while stopping their attacks on Yemen’s neighbours. He said the Security Council had “failed yesterday in sending a clear message to Iran” by not adopting the British draft resolution. Alyemany added, “This spectacular failure will only instigate and encourage Iran and its terrorist tentacles in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen, to go further; the ambiguous messages will be translated into more violence, ballistic missiles, and further tragedy.”
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