World
Yemen war: UN-backed talks to silence the guns due to begin in Stockholm
Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 06 Dec 2018

New York, Dec 6: Hopes are high that the warring parties in Yemen will begin long-delayed consultations on Thursday over ending the conflict that has ravaged the Middle East nation for over three years, leaving millions of civilians dependent on international assistance.
According to a tweet early on Wednesday from the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, the “restart of the intra-Yemeni political process” is scheduled to begin in the Swedish capital, Stockholm within hours.
He extended his “appreciation to the Government of Sweden for hosting the political consultations, and the Government of Kuwait for facilitating the travel of the Sana’a delegation” to the talks, referring to representatives of the Houthi rebel movement, who were allowed to fly out of the Yemeni capital a few days ago.
The UN attempted to bring the parties together – the Houthis and officially-recognized Government delegation – in Geneva in September for consultations, but conditions to allow the Houthi delegation to reach the Swiss city, did not materialize.
The conflict’s impact
Across Yemen, more than 22 million people – over three-quarters of the population – are dependent on humanitarian assistance or protection, of whom over 8 million are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation.
The conflict, which escalated in early 2015, following a Saudi-led military intervention against a Houthi rebel insurgency, at the request of the Yemeni Government, has also wrecked the country’s medical, water and sanitation systems, resulting in multiple outbreaks of cholera and other deadly diseases.
Thousands of civilians have also perished in airstrikes and fighting.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), all parties to the conflict display a disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law and have impeded the principled and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Critical confidence-building
Prior to Mr. Griffiths arrival in Sweden, a UN chartered aircraft successfully evacuated some 50 badly injured Yemenis from the opposition-controlled capital, Sana’a, to medical centres in Oman for treatment, a development seen as a critical confidence-building measure, ahead of the talks. Top officials from many nations also welcomed the medical evacuations.
While there have been many regional and global attempts to silence the guns in Yemen, bringing the parties together and finding agreements has been challenging.
Griffiths was appointed the Special Envoy in February this year, succeeding Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who had shepherded the UN’s efforts to resolve the conflict in Yemen since April 2015.
In his last briefing to the Security Council Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed cautioned that a “destructive pattern of zero-sum politics” has continued to plunged Yemen into ever deeper poverty and destruction, emphasizing that while the UN and the wider international community can try to bring about a favourable environment for a path to peace, Yemeni decision-makers must stop the fighting and bloodshed.
Humanitarian urgency
Humanitarian aid agencies, which have been providing life-saving assistance to millions across Yemen, have underscored the urgency of talks, warning that the situation on the ground has deteriorated “dramatically” in recent months.
Mark Lowcock, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, returning from his latest mission to the war-torn country on 1 December described the situation as being on the “brink of a major catastrophe.”
This message was reinforced by the Principles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee – a group of agencies including many UN entities, international organizations and non-government organizations.
In a joint statement on Monday, they called on all parties to participate in the talks and “engage seriously to agree actions to ease the situation.”
Video of the day

More World News
- Country origin ‘best predictor of outcome’ for children with cancer, UN experts say
- ‘New tech’ business model threatens decent work conditions, warns UN
- Engaging women and girls in science ‘vital’ for Sustainable Development Goals
- Earthquake hits Iran, tremors felt in UAE
- Scale of displacement across Myanmar ‘very difficult to gauge’, says UN refugee agency
- Guterres underlines climate action urgency, as UN weather agency confirms record global warming
- Dramatic drop in South Sudan political violence since peace agreement signing
- As inequality grows, the UN fights for a fairer world
- UN chief hopes for new agreement after Israel concludes international observation mission
- UN chief welcomes new Government in Lebanon, after eight-month impasse
- Human trafficking cases hit a 13-year record high, new UN report shows
- UN chief of peace operations honours fallen Chadian ‘blue helmets’ serving in northern Mali
- UN political chief calls for dialogue to ease tensions in Venezuela; Security Council divided over path to end crisis
- UN chief welcomes announcement by Emir of Qatar to allocate $50 million to support Syrian refugees, displaced persons
- Sudan: Amidst deaths, injuries, imprisonments, UNICEF stresses children’s protection ‘at all times’
- Migrants and refugees face higher risk of developing ill-health, says UN report on displaced people in Europe
- Ten UN peacekeepers killed in a terrorist attack in northern Mali
- Unknown gunmen kill Thai Buddhist monks in temple located in Muslim Malays majority area
- Australia: Police arrest one person over Israeli student's killing
- Nairobi hotel siege over: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta