UN Security Council members called on the government and Husiths in Yemen to immediately stop fighting and start discussing UN proposals for a ceasefire and humanitarian measures, said the chairman of the Council, the post-representative of the Dominican Republic to the UN Jose Singer.
A meeting of the UN Security Council on the conflict in Yemen was held on Thursday in the format of a video conference.
“The members of the Security Council supported the UN Secretary-General’s March 25 call for an immediate cessation of hostilities for those fighting in Yemen”, – Singer said. The video of the announcement was broadcast on the UN website.
The UN Security Council called on the parties “to do everything possible to counter the outbreak of COVID-19 and expressed concern over the ongoing fighting,” he said.
“UNSC members welcomed Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a unilateral ceasefire on behalf of the coalition. They welcomed the Yemeni government’s positive response to the call for a ceasefire and urged the Husites to make similar commitments without delay”, – Singer said.
“UNSC members are calling on the Husiths and the Yemeni government to deal constructively with Special Envoy Martin Griffiths’ proposals for a national ceasefire, confidence-building measures and the resumption of the political process to agree on them as soon as possible”, – Singer added.
UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said at the UN Security Council meeting Thursday he presented a number of proposals to both sides. The first was a ceasefire agreement throughout the country. The second concerns key humanitarian and economic measures. In particular, it refers to the release of prisoners and detainees, opening of Sana’a International Airport, payment of salaries to civil servants, opening of roads and ensuring entry of ships carrying essential goods to the ports of Hodeydah. In addition, Griffiths has invited the parties to urgently resume the political process.
As Griffiths has indicated, he expects the parties to agree and formally adopt these agreements in the near future, in particular a national ceasefire agreement.
Military-political conflict in Yemen between the government and Husite rebels from Ansar Allah, a Shiite movement, has been ongoing since 2014. Since March 2015, the government has been supported by a military coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia. In December 2018, the parties to the conflict in Yemen met for the first time in several years at the negotiating table, which was organized under the auspices of the UN in Stockholm. They managed to reach a number of important agreements, in particular, on the exchange of prisoners, a ceasefire in Hodide – a port city on the Red Sea – and its transfer to UN control.