Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoSecurity Council
8404th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East
Delivering impassioned pleas on behalf of 14 million civilians teetering on the edge of famine in Yemen, senior United Nations and civil society leaders today briefed a largely unified Security Council on political and humanitarian steps forward, emphasizing that a new “window of hope” has now opened in that country’s devastating and overlooked war.
“Never has so much international attention and energy been given to this crisis, and rightly so,” said Martin Griffiths, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen. Welcoming the light recently shed on the situation, he reminded Council that the situation nevertheless remains the world’s largest humanitarian disaster with an ongoing fight against famine, civilians dying from preventable diseases and an economy on the verge of collapse. “This is a crucial moment,” he said, noting that he has spent the last two months seeking support from the warring parties for an updated version of a framework for negotiations.
Outlining the contents of that newly-emerged framework — including the establishment of principles and parameters for United Nations-led, inclusive Yemeni political negotiations, a set of interim security and political arrangements to end fighting, the return of Sana'a’s friendly relations with neighbouring countries and a restoration of State institutions — he said he plans to visit Yemen next week to draw attention to the continued need for a pause in fighting. Welcoming the recent announcement by Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi of plans to move swiftly towards a political solution, he urged Council members to seize the current momentum and pursue a comprehensive and inclusive settlement to the conflict.
Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, recalled his October warning to the Council that a grave economic crisis and escalating conflict had pushed Yemen closer to famine than ever before. Shortly afterwards, an alert was issued that the world’s largest food security emergency faces a “catastrophic deterioration”. In that regard, he reiterated the five priority requests he previously delivered to the Council, namely: A cessation of hostilities in and around infrastructure on which aid operations and commercial importers rely; the protection of food and essential goods; a larger and faster injection of foreign exchange into the economy; an increase in funding and support for the humanitarian operation; and the parties’ full and open engagement with the Special Envoy.
The World Food Programme’s (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, emphasized that the words “heart breaking” and “tragic” do not do the conflict in Yemen justice. Describing his recent trip to the country, he said “soft words” cannot properly illustrate what is happening to civilians there — the stuff of nightmares, horror, deprivation and misery. Noting that the value of the Yemeni rial has dropped by 235 per cent since January 2015, he said the price of basic food staples has doubled in the last eight months while household incomes are declining. Meanwhile, Yemen — unlike other conflict-affected countries — cannot grow its own food, and there are 3.6 million more hungry people in the country than three months ago.
Rasha Jarhum, Founder and Director of the Peace Track Initiative Yemen, said children’s cries in Yemen go unnoticed as the conflict parties continue to use weapons in populated areas. Underlining the severe impacts on Yemeni women and girls, she said rapes and child marriages are soaring. Women have been assaulted by Houthi gangs and have had family members abducted. Calling for an immediate ceasefire, she also called for a ban on the arms and mines flowing into Yemen as well as on the recruitment of child soldiers. Peacekeepers from totally neutral States should be deployed to Yemen and the results of the National Dialogue should guide a transition to peace, she said.
As Council members took the floor, many underscored that while delegations are often divided on issues before them, today they stand largely united on the situation in Yemen. Speakers around the table agreed on the need for urgent political progress, while also voicing support for the Special Envoy’s political plans and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator’s five priority requests. Some welcomed the initiative to relaunch political negotiations in Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of November, while others urged their fellow Council members to use their individual and collective leverage to bring the parties to the table.
The United Kingdom’s delegate, welcoming the strong coordination between the United Nations units and civil society represented in the Chamber today, said the appalling situation on the ground calls for redoubled efforts to relieve humanitarian suffering and a political solution to the crisis. Urging the parties to engage constructively with the Special Envoy to pave the way for formal negotiations, she said her delegation – as the penholder for the issue – plans to take advantage of the current window of opportunity by bringing a draft resolution in support of the five points before the Council next week. “What men have created, men can resolve,” she stressed.
Kuwait’s representative joined other speakers in expressing hope that all the parties to Yemen’s conflict will commit to engaging in the upcoming negotiations in Stockholm in good faith and without any strings attached. However, in September, similar hopes were dashed, and the conflict continued unabated. The deeply troubling humanitarian situation — including the looming threat that 14 million people may soon be caught up in a famine — requires the Council to act and the international community to support the efforts of Yemen’s legitimate Government to prevent a further devaluation of the rial. “Humanitarian suffering in some cases is the fruit of deliberate attempts to prevent the delivery of assistance,” he stressed, citing instances where aid convoys have been purposely delayed or ransacked.
The representative of France declared: “There is a window of opportunity today that the Council must seize” by demanding an end to hostilities and supporting the political plan backed by the Special Envoy. Also warning of the threats of famine, a large-scale cholera epidemic and a risk that generations of Yemenis will be deprived of an education. Responding to the Under-Secretary-General’s five requests must be the Council’s top priority he stressed that all humanitarian and medical staff must also be protected and be able to plan and implement their operations in a secure environment. France stands willing to draft a Council resolution addressing both the humanitarian situation and the need to reach a lasting, global and inclusive solution to the conflict.
Yemen’s representative, describing action taken by his Government to help relieve the humanitarian situation, cited efforts to increase the rial’s value, stem oil smuggling and allow citizens to pay a reasonable rate for vital supplies. While food importation has been facilitated through credit measures, Houthi militias have set fire to food warehouses and have held hospital patients hostage. Calling on the international community to put pressure on the Houthis to end the blocking of resources and the use of civilians as human shields, he said what has hurt Yemen’s people the most is that those militia’s crimes go ignored while the perpetrators continue to recruit child soldiers, besiege cities and avoid peace talks. Against that backdrop, the Council must do more than simply denounce the situation. Concrete action is needed, he stressed, noting that opportunities still exist to achieve peace based on Gulf Cooperation Council agreements.
Also speaking today were representatives of the Russian Federation, Côte d’Ivoire, Sweden, Peru, Poland, United States, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Netherlands and China.
The meeting began at 3:02 p.m. and ended at 5:36 p.m.
For further details please see:
MEETINGS COVERAGE AND PRESS RELEASES
