UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths is expected to brief the UN Security Council on Thursday following the Arab Coalition’s announcement of a two-week ceasefire, open to extension, to fight the coronavirus pandemic and create a better environment for political negotiations in the country.
Informed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggest that the envoy's statement will focus on the proposal that he sent to Yemen’s warring parties based on the invitation of UN Chief Antonio Guterres.
According to sources, both Houthi militias and the Yemeni government received a proposal for the ceasefire’s mechanism.
Despite a truce being announced, the Arab Coalition reported violence carried out by Houthis at a time the international community awaits the group’s response to efforts for fighting the novel coronavirus.
Does Yemen need a political respirator to help with the warring parties who have yet to engage in peacemaking efforts and unite against the coronavirus?
Should Houthis continue with their intransigence, observers say that the Iran-backed group will face two disasters - the first being the collapse of what is left of the Yemeni healthcare system, and the second is bearing moral responsibility of the repercussions before the international community.
Yemeni political analyst Wissam Basnoudwa says that militias live off war and are strangled by peace, but the coronavirus forces another reality.
Basnoudwa warns that the coronavirus will have a disastrous impact on Yemen.
“The challenge now is different, the Iranian regime won’t be able to support Houthis as it suffers itself from the pandemic,” she said.
Yemeni diplomat Mahmoud Shahra says that the Arab Coalition, the Yemeni government and international organizations serve as witnesses to Houthi commitment to the ceasefire.
The coronavirus pandemic has yet to make clear inroads in Yemen, with the little testing that has been done uncovering just one confirmed case. But aid groups fear that could be a harbinger of a catastrophic outbreak among an acutely malnourished population.
“We will all struggle to provide adequate levels of supportive care to people should the disease take off,” the WHO’s emergencies expert Mike Ryan said.
