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STORY: UN / YEMEN HUMANITARIAN
TRT: 02:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 SEPTEMBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
22 SEPTEMBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNGA hashtag at visitor’s entrance
2. Wide shot, meeting room
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yemen:
“We have a true tragedy regarding child recruitment. Children are the fuel of this war on the side of the rebels. Seventy percent of the rebels’ soldiers are children, but we don’t see enough attention given to this issue; children between the ages of nine and seventeen.”
4. Wide shot, meeting room
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yemen:
“We believe that the delivery of aid, including through Sanaa airport, must be a right for every citizen but not a reward for the rebellion. This is the difference between what we are proposing and what the rebels are proposing. A reward for the rebellion would be to allow the militias to run an international airport or manage an international port like Hodeida and use it to traffic weapons as it is known.”
6. Wide shot, meeting room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
“Too often I find myself reminded of an old saying very well known in the Middle East, and it goes and you know it well: ‘I hear what you say and I like it; I watch what you do and I wonder.’ Help me and many others stop wondering.”
8. Wide shot, meeting room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, United Nations:
“There is no place in this country that is spared and there is no place in this country that doesn’t need our support. This is a man-made catastrophe and it can be undone by men.”
10. Wide shot, meeting room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Too often the de facto authorities in Sanaa delay or block humanitarian assistance or the movements of humanitarian staff including our cholera response. That is despite a clear obligation under international law to allow unimpeded passage to humanitarian relief. These impediments are unacceptable.”
12. Wide shot, Lowcock
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, United Nations:
“The course of this conflict has clearly demonstrated that pursuing a military solution is not possible as this will only bring more destruction and more killing. I strongly urge the parties to enter into a constructive dialogue with each other and based on the proposals that I have put forward and to do so without any further delay. This can help build confidence and restore trust, two elements that are solely needed to reach the crucial objective of implementing a cessation of hostilities and resuming peace talks.”
14. Wide shot, meeting room
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi said his country is facing a true tragedy regarding child recruitment, adding that “70 percent of the rebels’ soldiers are children.”
Speaking today (22 Sep) at a high-level meeting on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, Al-Mekhlafi said “children are the fuel of this war on the side of the rebels” adding that more international attention must be given to this issue. He noted that Yemen is facing a man-made political crisis and as such the solution must be political. He stressed that the international community must be clear in naming those who are obstructing a political solution adding that his government has agreed to all the proposals of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen to end the crisis.
The Yemeni Foreign Minister said his government is ready and willing to cooperate with aid agencies to facilitate their work. He affirmed however that the reopening of the country’s ports and airports should be “a right for every citizen but not a reward for the rebellion.” He said a reward for the rebellion would be to “allow the militias to run an international airport or manage an international port like Hodeida and use it to traffic weapons as it is known.”
Peter Maurer, President of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said for many Yemenis a normal decent life is impossible as the war continues. He said Yemen has witnessed the largest recorded cholera outbreak, which the number of suspected cases reaching over 700,000 as of this morning. Addressing the parties to the conflict, Maurer recalled the Middle Eastern proverb “I hear what you say and I like it; I watch what you do and I wonder” and called on them to help him and many others “stop wondering.”
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said the numbers related the humanitarian needs and people affect by the conflict are staggering as poverty and desperation in the country are mounting. He said, “There is no place in this country that is spared and there is no place in this country that doesn’t need our support; this is a man-made catastrophe and it can be undone by men.”
UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with 21 million people in need of emergency assistance or protection. He called on all those with influence to put greater pressure on the parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights law and protect civilians. He said, “Too often the de facto authorities in Sanaa delay or block humanitarian assistance or the movements of humanitarian staff including our cholera response.”
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the course of this conflict has “clearly demonstrated that pursuing a military solution is not possible as this will only bring more destruction and more killing.” He urged the parties to enter into a constructive dialogue with each other without any further delay, which could help “build confidence and restore trust, two elements that are solely needed to reach the crucial objective of implementing a cessation of hostilities and resuming peace talks.”
