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UN / YEMEN
STORY: UN / YEMEN
TRT: 2:14
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 MAY 2019, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
15 MAY 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Zoom in, Griffith and Fore joining Security Council meeting
4. Med shot, Yemeni ambassador
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, United Nations:
“We never expected the implementation of this agreement to be easy, and it hasn’t been. But with the continuous commitment of the parties and the Coalition, the swift and decisive support of this Council and the stewardship of General Michael’s mission, UNMHA, we have seen the first concrete step towards the implementation of those good words in Sweden in December.”
6. Wide shot, Lowcock addressing Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“The tanker, which you will recall is moored off the coast of Hudaydah, has had no maintenance since 2015, and is at risk of rupturing or exploding, potentially spilling 1.1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea. Just to give you a sense of the scale of the problem, that is four times more than was spilt in the Exxon Valdez disaster thirty years ago.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“To truly shape a better future for Yemen and its children, we need your engagement and influence to end this war on children now. Yemen is spiralling perilously close to the brink, to the tipping point. We call on the Council to speak with one voice to protect the children of Yemen and stop grave violations against them.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“Mr. President, Yemen is a test of our humanity. And right now, we are badly failing this test. Time is running out. We won’t get another chance. Fifteen million children in Yemen are asking you to save their lives. Please help them. They need peace.”
12. (under soundbite) Med shot, Yemeni ambassador
13. (under soundbite) Wide shot, Fore addressing Council
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations:
“Mr. President, the Yemeni Government, while it welcomes the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General, recalls that the Stockholm agreement came as a step towards building the necessary confidence to move towards a comprehensive solution to the Yemeni crisis. For this, the failure of the Houthis to work with the international community and the Yemeni Government to establish necessary trust will make it impossible to trust them as decision-makers being moved by Iran’s terrorist hands.”
15. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said after Ansar Allah’s military forces left three Yemeni ports, “we have seen the first concrete step” towards the implementation of the Stockholm agreement.
Addressing the Security Council today (15 May), Griffiths said between 11 and 14 May, Ansar Allah had undertaken an initial deployment of forces from the ports of Al-Hudaydah, Saleef and Ras Issa under UN monitoring. He added that General Michael Lollesgaard and his team from the UN Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) were there at each of the three ports to monitor and verify the redeployments.
SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, United Nations:
“We never expected the implementation of this agreement to be easy, and it hasn’t been. But with the continuous commitment of the parties and the Coalition, the swift and decisive support of this Council and the stewardship of General Michael’s mission, UNMHA, we have seen the first concrete step towards the implementation of those good words in Sweden in December.”
Griffiths told the Council that this is only the beginning and that these redeployments must be followed by concrete actions of the parties to deliver on their obligations under the Stockholm Agreement.
Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock also briefed the Council, warning that the spectre of famine still looms in Yemen. He said ten million Yemenis are still reliant on emergency food assistance to survive. He added that a resurgent cholera outbreak has affected already 300,000 people this year compared to 370,000 cases in the whole of 2018.
Lowcock also reported that the fighting was impacting aid operations. With many main routes not usable, humanitarian agencies and traders now rely on a patchwork of back roads and mountain passes, often going through insecure areas with numerous checkpoints.
Lowcock expressed his concern over the Safer oil tanker, which could potentially cause an environmental disaster in the Red Sea.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“The tanker, which you will recall is moored off the coast of Hudaydah, has had no maintenance since 2015, and is at risk of rupturing or exploding, potentially spilling 1.1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea. Just to give you a sense of the scale of the problem, that is four times more than was spilt in the Exxon Valdez disaster thirty years ago.”
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore told Council members that, since the fighting in Yemen began four years ago, 7,300 children have been killed or seriously injured. Each day, she said, another eight children would be killed, injured or recruited to the fighting; and every 10 minutes, another child would die from a preventable disease.
Fore said UNICEF and its humanitarian partners treated 345,000 severely malnourished children last year and were delivering safe water to over five million people every day; but stressed that this work only addresses the symptoms of the catastrophe in Yemen.
SOUNDBITE (English) Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“To truly shape a better future for Yemen and its children, we need your engagement and influence to end this war on children now. Yemen is spiralling perilously close to the brink, to the tipping point. We call on the Council to speak with one voice to protect the children of Yemen and stop grave violations against them.”
The head of UNICEF said Yemen was a test of our humanity, “and right now, we are badly failing this test.” She told the Council, “Time is running out. We won’t get another chance. Fifteen million children in Yemen are asking you to save their lives. Please help them. They need peace.”
Yemeni ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi said the Yemeni people hoped the Stockholm agreement would be a first step towards ending their tragedy, but unfortunately Houthi rebels have taken advantage of every step towards peace to buy time, reposition, and commit more crimes and violations.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations:
“Mr. President, the Yemeni Government, while it welcomes the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General, recalls that the Stockholm agreement came as a step towards building the necessary confidence to move towards a comprehensive solution to the Yemeni crisis. For this, the failure of the Houthis to work with the international community and the Yemeni Government to establish necessary trust will make it impossible to trust them as decision-makers being moved by Iran’s terrorist hands.”
Al-Saadi said his Government reaffirms its right to verify any steps taken as part of implementing the Stockholm agreement and to monitor withdrawals in accordance with Security Council resolutions. He added that a briefing by General Lollesgaard was not enough.
The Yemeni ambassador said progress towards peace could not be achieved without a decisive stance by the Security Council in applying real pressure and sending clear messages to Houthi militias to implement the Stockholm agreement.
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