United Nations: The specter of famine hovers over the heads of Yemenis
English - Thursday 12 November 2020 الساعة 04:22 pm
NewsYemen:
The United Nations, in its latest report, warned that the specter of famine is hovering over the Yemeni heads, calling on all warring parties to find a comprehensive and urgent political solution.
According to the UN envoy's speech, on Wednesday, before the UN Security Council, the serious and studied commitments between the leadership of the two parties are the ones that are capable of ending the conflict.
The envoy also stressed that "the time has come for the parties to take the final decisions required for the joint declaration negotiations to bear fruit."
This came in the session in the presence of the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, and Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley; Omar Badukhun, founder and executive director of the civil society initiative "Solutions for Sustainable Societies".
The meeting dealt with stopping the fighting, and the two sides adhered to the obligations imposed by international law regarding the protection of civilian lives and civilian infrastructure.
Escalation worried
As usual, the Special Envoy expressed his concern about the escalation of violence in Marib and Taiz, the increase in attacks on the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the attacks on homes, schools, places of worship and hospitals.
The envoy here did not name whoever carried out these transgressions over the past two years, whether in Marib or the directorates of the West Coast by the Houthi militia, Iran's arm in Yemen.
He also expressed his regret for the situation Yemen has reached, which calls for resolute measures to reach a political solution; He pointed out the importance of the success of the Riyadh Agreement and the need for its implementation by the government and the Southern Transitional Council.
He did not forget his call to the importance of involving women in shaping the country's future, referring to a previous meeting that included 30 Yemeni women leaders.
SAFER reservoir hazards
Through the United Nations report and the briefing of the Special Envoy, it appears as if the Yemeni file can be easily resolved in the way the parties are today.
But the reality says otherwise, for example the problem of the (Safer reservoir) oil, which contains one million and 240 thousand barrels of crude oil, the United Nations as a main intermediary could not allow a specialized team to access the maintenance of the reservoir.
On the other hand, the Iranian ambassador, Hassan Irloo, arrived in Sanaa in mid-October and went to Amman with the same plane, Abdullah Sabri, an ambassador designated by the militia in Syria.
The UN envoy stated that the United Nations has been trying for months to negotiate the arrival of an expert mission to assess the status of the oil tanker SAFER, while it is awaiting the militia's green light.
Activist Omar Badukhun spoke about the danger of the Safer reservoir, calling on the member states of the Council to put all their weight in reaching a lasting peace in Yemen for the sake of people and the environment.
Many also identified a number of points that must be taken during and after emptying the reservoir, pointing to the need to expand interest in the “green technology sector”, and not to use the Safir reservoir as a political blackmail card.
Starvation risk
The description of the United Nations came late with regard to famine, which is fully aware that nearly 25 million people have been in need of permanent and urgent assistance for a long time.
This was summed up by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, who emphasized that "the most urgent task today in Yemen is to prevent widespread famine," explaining in detail the stages that the human body goes through when it lacks food.
Lowcock explained that if the Yemenis survive the disease, they will not find anything to eat and here, their organs will decompose, explaining in detail the disastrous results.
For an individual to die in this way, as he put it, this is a terrible, painful and humiliating death. Rather, it is a particularly cruel death in a world, like ours, where there is in fact more than enough food for everyone, saying: “Yemenis“ do not go hungry. ”They are starved.
Calling on donors to fulfill their pledges and increase their support. Indicating that more than $ 200 million of pledges this year, including the new financing announced in September, has not been paid yet.
One last call to the rescue
The Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley, in the same context, said that the countdown to the disaster (famine) has now begun, explaining that only months will separate the Yemenis from a completely new level of misery.
He added. "We sounded the alarm" in 2018 and 2019, when we informed the council in a "big presentation" of their dire situation, adding that the suffering of Yemenis today is "quite frankly more pathetic."
Mr. Beasley pointed to the seriousness of the devaluation of the local currency, which made the allocations more expensive, warning against continuing to tamper with relief supplies.
For its part, the Executive Director of the UN agency that won the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2020, called for higher levels of cooperation, the development of a "comprehensive and funded plan", and the complete silencing of the guns.
She said "Let me say this very clearly to avoid famine for 2021, we will need 1.9 billion dollars," adding that "we cannot spend the time to scrutinize small details. We must act now, because people will die if we do not."
He appealed to the council members not to turn their backs on the people of Yemen, but to "seize this brief opportunity that we have to avoid the famine that is already gaining a foothold. Boys and girls, women and families are looking to us to save them."
