ReliefWeb

Following the UN Secretary-General’s call for a nationwide ceasefire in Yemen and the subsequent public commitment and support to the call by the warring parties and Yemeni public, the UN Special Envoy shared in late March with the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah a comprehensive initiative to end the war. This initiative, based on engagement with the parties and diverse Yemeni constituencies, includes: 1) a proposal for a nation-wide and accountable ceasefire agreement 2) a set of economic and humanitarian measures to alleviate the suffering of Yemeni people and build confidence between the parties and 3) a commitment to the resumption of the political process.

The initiative further aims to support joint efforts of the parties and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator to combat a possible COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen.

A few days ago, the Office of the Special Envoy has received feedback and comments by the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah to these proposals.

Yesterday, the Saudi-led Coalition announced a two-week unilateral ceasefire covering the whole of Yemen in order to support the Special Envoy’s initiative, a move that the UN Secretary-General and the Special Envoy welcomed.

The Office of the Special Envoy is now in the process of revising its proposals based on the comments and inputs received by the parties and will share with them updated versions.

The Special Envoy hopes that he can convene the parties virtually soonest possible to formally conclude these agreements.

The Special Envoy is thankful to the parties for their constructive and substantive engagement to his initiative. He hopes that the spirit of cooperation and compromise will prevail as negotiations proceed.

The Special Envoy’s office will be sharing regular updates on the negotiations with consideration to the fine balance between the required confidentiality of the mediation process and the values of transparency.