UN Security Council Briefing and Consultations on the Middle East (Yemen)

Mr. President,
At the outset, I would like to thank Special Envoy Hans Grunberg and USG Martin Griffiths for their informative briefings on the overall difficult situation in Yemen.
I also welcome the participation of the representative of Yemen to this meeting.

Mr. President,
The prevailing situation in Yemen reinforces the need for the Security Council and the international community, to continue to support efforts aimed at finding a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict, while also responding to the worsening humanitarian crises, to bring respite to the suffering people of that country.

We take note of the matters that have been raised in the briefings and wish to emphasize the following points:

First, we condemn, and call for an end to the unremitting targeted attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in blatant disregard for the precepts of international law and international humanitarian law. The ordinary people of Yemen, continue to suffer needless deaths and casualties from the unabated hostilities and military escalations in the Ma’rib and Shabwah governorates and across several conflict lines in the country. The dangerous escalations have resulted in the highest civilian casualties in at least three years, including the killing of 47 children in January and February alone. We, therefore, strongly support the call for a nationwide ceasefire, which is most urgent now. The conflicting parties must end the hostilities and commit to working together in good-faith to forge common understandings for a political settlement of the conflict. Finding common ground in the highly fragmented society
of Yemen has proven to be difficult and will require the implementation of enhanced trust and confidence building measures among the people.
 
The facilitating role of the Special Envoy, in this context, is vital to ensure an inclusive political process in accordance with Security Council resolutions. We therefore welcome and express our support for his on-going consultations with all parties and stakeholders as part of the framework for a comprehensive peace process. We stress the importance for the parties to provide the
space for the full, effective and meaningful participation of the Yemeni women at all stages of the peace process, noting their long-demonstrated willingness and capacity
to engage in communal and national efforts to resolve the conflict.

Secondly, we wish to highlight the urgent need for funding in support of humanitarian operations. Worse than the harrowing humanitarian situation itself, would be the failure of the international community and donor partners to meet the challenge of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe. We are hopeful, that the High-Level Pledging Event that will hold tomorrow, under the benevolent auspices of the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland, will extend a lifeline to the millions of Yemenis at the brink of starvation.
 
Thirdly, we stress the need for urgent measures to stabilize the fast-deteriorating economy. We continue to advocate for the lifting of import restrictions in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement to facilitate commercial imports and, lessen the reliance on humanitarian aid.
Far-reaching measures, including the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine are needed to stem significant import shocks as 30% of Yemen’s wheat imports come from Ukraine. We look forward to receiving further insights on the implementation strategy for the Economic Framework proposed by the UN to address the underlying problems of poverty in Yemen.

We take note of the progress of the signing of the MOU among relevant parties to enable work to proceed on the FSO Safer Tanker. We urge continuous and open engagement among all concerned parties, with the sole objective to avert or mitigate any environmental accidents.
 
Finally, we re-affirm our support for a Yemeni-led, Yemeniowned political process, under the auspices of the United Nations with the objective of finding a comprehensive and lasting peace in Yemen.

I thank you for your kind attention.