New steps to salvage a ceasefire at Hodeida, a Yemeni port crucial for aid deliveries to civilians, have been agreed, say UN officials. Yemeni government and rebel representatives met on a ship in the Red Sea.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Al-Ansi
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Yemen's warring sides had agreed on a "mechanism and new measures to reinforce the ceasefire and deescalation," announced the UN on Monday after talks convened by former Danish general Michael Lollesgaard.
In May, Yemen's government — backed by a Saudi-led military coalition — accused Iran-aligned Houthi militias of faking pullouts staged at Hodeida and two other ports by merely handing control over to allies.
On Sunday, representatives were picked up at different locations by a UN ship for the talks — the first meeting between the factions since February.
The maritime encounter was confirmed by Wadah Dabish, a spokesman for Yemeni government forces.
Reducing hostilities 'as soon as possible'
The UN statement said both sides were keen to reduce hostilities around Hodeidah "as soon as possible."
Still pending, said the UN, was agreement between political leaders on "local security forces, local authority and revenues."
The UN statement did not elaborate.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Yemen has struggled to cope with crises prompted by its atrocious civil war, including catastrophic hunger and devastating cholera outbreaks. DW examines the conflict and how it affects the country's civilian population.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'
In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy
In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Peace: An elusive future
Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
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UN extends observer mission
At the United Nations in New York almost simultaneously on Monday the UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend its ceasefire observation mission for Hodeida by six months, until January 2020.
The council's resolution called for full deployment of a contingent of observers, which was mandated for 75 staff but currently has only 20 on the ground.
Last month, Houthi rebels balked at providing visas for UN observers stationed on ships off the coast.
World's worst humanitarian disaster
Deescalation in Hodeida should enable distribution of desperately needed food and medical aid to millions of Yemenis in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Hodeida, as Yemen's main port, is also strategically important for trade.
Yemen's warfare — begun in 2015 during a Saudi-led military intervention in support of Yemen's government — had claimed at least 91,600 lives, said the armed conflict database ACLED last month.#
It receives funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US State Department. Its numbers do not include victims of humanitarian deprivations caused by the war.
The fighting has displaced millions and left 24 million — two thirds of Yemen's population — dependent on aid.