UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths warned on Monday (23 August) at a Security Council session that 5 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine.
Griffiths, alongside other international officials involved in Yemen the majority of Yemenis, were in need of financial and humanitarian assistance.
Griffiths also called for opening Sana’a airport and removing restrictions on Hodeida’s port, both of which are under Houthi’s control.
Addressing the meeting, US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called on the Houthis to accept a ceasefire without pre-conditions. Thomas-Greenfield said that there is a rare international consensus on the need to end the war which needs to be exploited.
Clashes have been ongoing on several fronts, notably around Marib, where forces supporting the legitimate government struck several locations. On Saturday, Yemen’s minister of information Moammar al-Eryani said that an Iranian expert was killed in Marib.
Despite the consensus of the international community, it is yet difficult to bring parties to make concessions with difference of opinions as to whether the country’s ports should be opened, or if it is to be conditioned on a ceasefire.
At the Security Council session, the members agreed that the path towards peace should be pursued with the meaningful participation of women, minority leaders and civil society.
