Welcome
Federal Foreign Office on the situation in Yemen
A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement today (21 December) on the UN Security Council’s most recent resolution on Yemen:
We welcome the adoption today by the UN Security Council of Resolution 2451. The fact that all 15 members voted unanimously in favour of this resolution sends a very strong signal of international community support for Yemen and is a sign that the Council is still capable of speaking with one voice. As of January, Germany will use its Security Council membership to preserve and expand this unity.
The task now is to implement the agreements that were reached in Sweden by Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen Martin Griffiths between the parties to the conflict. The resolution that has just been adopted is an important milestone in this effort.
This concerns in particular the city and harbour of Hodeidah, which remains key for supplying the desperately needy population. The decision to send a UN monitoring mission to Hodeidah significantly contributes to the building of confidence and promotes conflict resolution.
The German Government will continue to support the efforts of the United Nations and of the Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, with a view to establishing a sustainable political peace process and confidence-building measures.
We are closely deliberating with the United Nations and our partners on how we can comprehensively support the implementation of the agreements that were reached in Sweden.
Background information:
To support progress in the negotiations and help improve the situation in the country, the German Government – together with the United Nations – has established a fund for which Germany has provided 2.5 million euros in start-up financing and has pledged to provide an additional 2 million euros in 2019.
The humanitarian situation remains appalling – with children, women, the poor and other particularly vulnerable groups being the most severely affected. The German Government is providing significant humanitarian assistance in Yemen (in 2018: 125 million euros; in 2019: commitments so far in the amount of 39 million euros). It also supports stabilisation projects and plays a major role in development cooperation.