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1st LD Writethru: UN Security Council urges urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemen

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Thursday urged all parties to facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Yemen as well as " unhindered" access for humanitarian actors to reach people in need of aid.

In a press statement released here, the 15-member body expressed deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, including the risk of famine, after it heard the briefing from UN envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed Wednesday.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the need for an agreement on an extended humanitarian pause or ceasefire in Yemen has never been more urgent since the country is "one step away from famine."

"Recognizing the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, the members of the Security Council endorsed the UN Secretary General's call for a further humanitarian pause in order to allow life-saving assistance to reach the Yemeni people urgently," said the council's statement.

According to a recent UN survey, 6 million people in Yemen are slipping towards severe hunger and now need emergency food and life-saving assistance. Meanwhile, 10 out of Yemen's 22 governorates are now classified as facing food insecurity at " emergency" level.

"Innocent civilians in Yemen are paying a terrible price," said Stephen O'brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. "They face daily airstrikes, shelling and fighting while medical supplies, fuel and food are running out, and basic services have collapsed."

The Security Council also reaffirmed their call for Yemeni parties to attend future talks and engage "without preconditions and in good faith" by resolving differences through consultations while stressing the need for a Yemeni-led transition process.

The UN-brokered consultations on Yemen concluded last week without reaching an agreement. Although the Yemenis did not achieve consensus on substantive issues, the UN envoy had made it clear that he held constructive discussions with both delegations and established areas of common ground.

"There is an emerging common ground up on which we can build to achieve an eventual cease-fire coupled with the withdrawal of combatants," said Ould Cheikh Ahmed. "While we pursue a sustainable long-term cessation of violence, I called on all the relevant parties to agree without delay to a humanitarian truce, especially during the holy month of Ramadan." Endite