Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, at the 8608th Meeting, 29 Aug. 2019, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "the Situation in the Middle East"]

S/PRST/2019/9View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Presidential Statement of the Security Council, under agenda item X The situation in the Middle East, published in 2019.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Internal Security Saudi Arabia Special Missions Yemen

What’s in this document?

14 paragraphs

At the 8608th meeting of the Security Council, held on 29 August 2019, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “The situation in the Middle East”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council underlines its full support for the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (the Special Envoy), Martin Griffiths, and calls on the Government of Yemen and the Houthis (the parties) to engage constructively and continuously with him. The Council commends the tireless efforts of the Special Envoy to support the parties to implement the Stockholm Agreement and to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Yemen.

“The Security Council expresses its deep concern at the escalation in violence and the recent loss of life and injuries in Aden, Saa’da, Sana’a, Shabwa and across Yemen. It calls once again on all parties to fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law, including in relation to ensuring the protection of civilians, particularly to children and access for humanitarian organisations, and their obligations under international human rights law, as applicable. The Security Council underlines the need to ensure accountability for violations in Yemen.

“The Security Council is particularly concerned by recent developments in the south of Yemen, including the violent attempt to take over state institutions. It calls on all involved parties to show restraint and to preserve Yemen’s territorial integrity. The Security Council welcomes and fully supports the efforts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to convene a dialogue in Jeddah to resolve the situation, and calls on all parties to engage constructively to make those efforts a success.

“The Security Council fully supports the Special Envoy’s efforts to work with the parties to pave the way for the resumption of comprehensive negotiations, without delay, on the security and political arrangements necessary to end the conflict and resume a peaceful transition. The Security Council supports a negotiated political settlement that engages all parties in an inclusive dialogue to resolve differences and address the legitimate concerns of all Yemenis, including those in the south, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2216 (2015), the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, and the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference.

“The Security Council condemns in the strongest terms the escalation of Houthi attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and calls on them to cease such attacks immediately without preconditions. It underlines that such attacks, which have killed, injured and endangered civilians, pose a serious national security threat to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as a wider threat to regional security, and threaten to undermine the UN-led political process.

“The Security Council reiterates its call on the parties to continue broader implementation of the Stockholm Agreements. In particular, they urge the parties to work closely with the Special Envoy and redouble efforts to finalise arrangements for the Prisoner Exchange agreement, which would help build confidence between the parties, and to work on the implementation of the Statement of Understanding on Taiz.

“The Security Council welcomes the constructive meeting of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) on 14 and 15 July and the parties’ renewed commitment to implementing phase one of the Concept of Operations (CONOPs) of redeployment from Hodeidah. It calls upon the parties to engage constructively with the Special Envoy’s proposals for implementing phase one without further delay. It notes the positive progress made by the parties in agreeing phase two of the CONOPs and the enhanced ceasefire and monitoring in Hodeidah Governorate. It calls on the parties to implement the agreed CONOPS and continue to work towards full redeployment from Hodeidah City and the ports of Hodeidah, Saleef and Ras Issa.

“The Security Council underlines the need for the United Nations Mission in support of the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) to progress towards its full deployment and reiterates its call on the parties, as set out in its resolution 2452 (2019) and 2481 (2019), to ensure the unhindered and expeditious movement into and within Yemen of UNMHA personnel and equipment.

“The Security Council expresses deep concern at the gravity of the humanitarian situation. It reiterates its call on all parties to facilitate safe and unhindered access for humanitarian personnel and flows of humanitarian supplies, including food and fuel, to prevent the diversion of humanitarian assistance, and to ensure the effective and sustained functioning of all of Yemen’s ports and road access across the country, which has seen a significant deterioration in recent months.

“The Security Council also reiterates the need to increase the pace and scale of the humanitarian response, and expresses its concern at reports that the UN is increasingly running out of funding and scaling down or stopping essential life-saving activities. Given the ongoing risk of famine and disease outbreaks, they urge all donors to fulfil promptly the pledges they have already made to the UN-led humanitarian response, and to provide any additional funding they can.

“The Security Council also recognises the huge challenges posed by Yemen’s struggling economy. In this regard, it welcomes and encourages continued progress on the Government of Yemen’s efforts to stabilise the Yemeni Riyal and pay public sector salaries and pension payments across the whole country. It also welcomes the deposits made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Central Bank of Yemen to support the import of essential food commodities and encourages replenishment of this funding to maintain the rial’s exchange rate. It further calls for the parties to continue to respect the integrity of the Central Bank of Yemen and other institutions underpinning Yemen’s economic stability. It also calls for the lifting of restrictions on economic activity and for the respect of national economic policy, and reiterates its call on the parties to continue to work with the Special Envoy on port revenues as part of the Hodeidah Agreement to expand the payment of public sector salaries across the country.

“Recognising the crucial peacebuilding role played by women in Yemen, the Security Council reiterates the importance of the full, effective and meaningful participation of women, as well as the meaningful engagement of youth, in the political process. It calls on the parties to increase the participation of women in their delegations to 30%, if necessary by adding additional members to their delegations.

“The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen.”

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