UTV | SAUDI ARABIA – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring sides in Yemen on Tuesday to reach a political settlement to end a four-year-old conflict that has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek Al-Mekhlafi echoed the call for a return to the negotiating table and said that his internationally recognized government was working to open ports and airports to humanitarian aid.
Guterres joined top officials from dozens of countries at a pledging conference for war-battered Yemen.
Sweden and Switzerland joined the UN in hosting the daylong event that aimed to drum up funds toward a $2.96 billion UN appeal to provide assistance and protection to people in Yemen.
The conference raised more than $2 billion. Guterres hailed the donor conference as a “remarkable success.”
Guterres told reporters that in addition to the $2 billion already committed, multiple countries had promised more donations in the coming months, leaving him “optimistic that we will be able to reach the level that corresponds to the needs.”
“A negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only solution. I urge all parties to engage with my new Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, without delay,” Guterres told the one-day conference.
“All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food and the fuel needed to deliver them. Sanaa airport is also a lifeline that must be kept open,” he said.
In opening remarks, Guterres decried a “catastrophic” situation in Yemen, pointing out that a child below 5 dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes, and 8.4 million people do not know how they will obtain their next meal. Many face the threat of starvation. (Courtesy – Arab News)