The UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths announced presenting a plan to solve the Yemeni crisis, and that it is now in the hands of those who have the weapons and decision-making powers.
“The Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) declaration of 25th of April is particularly troubling. I am alarmed by their subsequent steps to make local institutions in Aden answerable to them. Adding to this dreadful mix, military tensions are now rising in the south, particularly in Abyan and also in Socotra. I call for immediate restraint,” Griffiths said at his briefing to the UN Security Council.
Griffiths said he calls on the Government of Yemen and the STC to intensify their efforts toward the "urgent resumption of the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.”
He also expressed concern over the situation of course in the south.
"The people of Aden in particular, face outbreaks of COVID-19 and other diseases believed to include malaria, cholera, dengue and others,” he said,
“Deaths are rising daily, but nobody knows exactly why because the health system is so ill-equipped to diagnose and treat people. Exceptionally heavy flooding in late April have led to the damage of infrastructure and homes, exposing ailing infrastructure and exacerbating already very considerable daily power outages. And long-deteriorating public services are now at a breaking point. Aden is an example of the horrors that attend Yemen,” he elaborated.
Griffiths said since the Secretary-General’s March call for a ceasefire globally and then in Yemen, people across Yemen have been speaking out forcefully to demand peace.
In response to that, he shared with the government of Yemen and Houthis draft agreements on: Firstly, a nation-wide ceasefire; secondly, humanitarian and economic measures; and thirdly, the urgent resumption of the political process.
“I have been engaged in intensive negotiations with the parties, identifying and building on points of convergence, and of course proposing compromised texts where differences remain,” he said.
“I am pleased to report that we have seen significant progress on these negotiations, in particular with respect to the national, nation-wide ceasefire,” he added.
