Yemen: Hopes for Ceasefire Agreement Still Unmet, Says UN Envoy for the Country

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Published Jun 22, 2024

Briefing by Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, on the situation in the Middle East.

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, today (14 Mar) told the Security Council that while “hopes and expectations” for an agreement on a nationwide ceasefire and measures to improve living conditions in Yemen have not been met, “efforts in finalising and implementing a UN roadmap remain undeterred.”

Grundberg said, “I had hoped I would be briefing you about the preparations for an inclusive political process. Public sector employees across the country should have been receiving their salaries and pensions. Oil exports should have resumed, which could have enabled more effective service delivery and improved economic conditions. And we should have had another agreement on the release of prisoners, allowing loved ones to return home in time for Ramadan.”

Instead of such an agreement, Grundberg told the Council that regional developments since the war in Gaza have impacted Yemen.

He said, “the longer the escalatory environment continues, the more challenging Yemen’s mediation space will become. With more interests at play, the parties to the conflict in Yemen are more likely to shift calculations and alter their negotiation agendas. In a worst-case scenario, the parties could decide to engage in risky military adventurism that propels Yemen back into a new cycle of war.”