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UN / YEMEN
STORY: UN / YEMEN
TRT: 3:05
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 FEBRUARY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
18 FEBRUARY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Wide shot, Yemeni ambassador joining meeting
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Yemen:
“We are witnessing in Yemen what we have long feared. Since October, I have briefed this Council several times on the signs of hope and momentum towards peace. But, at the same time, we have all been acutely aware that renewed violence could reverse the gains made, render peace more difficult and inflict even more severe humanitarian consequences on the population.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Yemen:
“This is a firm commitment from the parties to the families that they will be reunited with their loved ones. And it is a sign that the parties are prepared to progress towards their commitment to release all those eventually – all for all - deprived of their liberty in relation to the conflict.”
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Yemen:
“Hesitance on the political track allows the war drums to beat louder and allows provocations to spiral and to multiply. The hard work that the parties have is at grave risk of being undone. The parties must display the courage, that I know they have, to set aside short-term military goals and make a sustained, tangible and irreversible commitment to the political process.”
10. Wide shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Let me remind everyone that international humanitarian law requires the parties to facilitate access to people in need. Access is essential if we are to continue saving millions of lives across Yemen. Yet the space we need to do this work has been narrowing from all directions.
12. Med shot, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“The situation is unacceptable. Stopping the world’s largest aid operation would be fatal for millions of people.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission for the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations:
“The dangerous escalation by Houthi militias in Al-Jawf, Ma’rib, and Nihm and their targeting of civilian populated cities, displacement camps, hospitals, and mosques which has claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, is a dangerous escalation which reaffirms these militias’ intentions to terminate peace efforts and to prolong the war. It also represents a flagrant challenge to the all United Nations’ efforts and those of this esteemed Council.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told the Security Council, “We are witnessing in Yemen what we have long feared” adding that the renewed violence in the country “could reverse the gains made, render peace more difficult and inflict even more severe humanitarian consequences on the population.”
Addressing the Council today (18 Feb) via teleconference from Geneva, Griffiths said during the past month the military situation has grown increasingly dire, and both sides have announced expansive military goals and exchanged fierce rhetoric.
The Special Envoy added that he is concerned that the escalations may also threaten the progress made in Hudaydah, where the situation is vulnerable to an increase in violence.
The Special Envoy said that the leaderships of both parties have the ability and responsibility to rein in the violence, scale down the rhetoric and commit to a more sustainable de-escalation. Prior to the recent increase in violence, he noted, the parties had considerably reduced the number of airstrikes and cross-border aerial attacks. He said this de-escalation had a strong, positive impact on the prospect of peace, and can do so again if the parties are committed.
Griffiths welcomed the agreement made in Amman, Jordan for an exchange of prisoners. He added, “This is a firm commitment from the parties to the families that they will be reunited with their loved ones. And it is a sign that the parties are prepared to progress towards their commitment to release all those eventually – all for all - deprived of their liberty in relation to the conflict.”
The Special Envoy stressed that “hesitance on the political track allows the war drums to beat louder and allows provocations to spiral and to multiply.” He added, “The hard work that the parties have is at grave risk of being undone. The parties must display the courage, that I know they have, to set aside short-term military goals and make a sustained, tangible and irreversible commitment to the political process.”
Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock also briefed the Council on Yemen and said that hostilities have escalated significantly along several fronts, most notably in the governorates of Marib, Al Jawf and Sana’a. He said fighting in these areas has displaced more than 35,000 people since mid-January and resulted in the killing and injuring of more than 160 civilians last month.
Lowcock remined that international humanitarian law requires the parties to facilitate access to people in need. He said access is essential if humanitarians are to continue “saving millions of lives across Yemen,” but said, “the space we need to do this work has been narrowing from all directions.”
Lowcock described the situation as “unacceptable” and stressed that “stopping the world’s largest aid operation would be fatal for millions of people.”
Yemeni ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi said his Government has always been keen on reaching a sustainable peace and had hoped that the Stockholm agreement would be a positive start to building trust among the parties. He said it was regrettable that more than a year after the agreement it did not result in anything, rather it has turned into a new phase for escalation and increasing the suffering of the Yemeni people.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission for the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations:
“The dangerous escalation by Houthi militias in Al-Jawf, Ma’rib, and Nihm and their targeting of civilian populated cities, displacement camps, hospitals, and mosques which has claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, is a dangerous escalation which reaffirms these militias’ intentions to terminate peace efforts and to prolong the war. It also represents a flagrant challenge to the all United Nations’ efforts and those of this esteemed Council.”
Al-Saadi stressed that any future consultations must be tied to real and realistic progress in implementing the Stockholm agreement.
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