The agreement could be a major breakthrough in the four-year conflict that has brought Yemen to the brink of famine. Both sides have warned, however, that UN peace talks in Sweden are unlikely to result in a truce.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/M. Mohammed
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Yemen's government and the Houthi rebels have agreed to exchange more than 15,000 prisoners by January 20, the sides announced during UN-mediated peace talks in Sweden on Tuesday.
The government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, said it has provided an initial list of 8,200 prisoners. The Shiite Houthi rebels, which are supported by Iran, gave a list of 7,487 detainees and prisoners.
UN officials at the talks in Rimbo, Sweden, called the exchange of lists "very impressive," although they noted the size of the lists could push the exchange beyond the January deadline. The lists will also undergo a four-week review to verify the names.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed it will oversee the exchange.
Tensions still remain over the plan to de-escalate violence in two flashpoint cities: rebel-held Hodeida, a port city vital to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Yemen's third-largest city, Taiz, the scene of some of the most intense fighting. Warring parties are currently discussing a UN draft to reduce hostilities in Hodeida.
Although Tuesday's agreement marks a big step for the Yemen peace talks, both sides have warned that an agreement on a ceasefire is not likely to happen during this round.
UNICEF: Children need help now
Geert Cappelaere, a regional director with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) who is responsible for operations in Yemen, told DW that while he remains hopeful the peace talks will succeed, organizations currently on the ground urgently need help removing obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
He also urged the international community to start planning on how to help Yemen once the conflict ends.
"What's very important at the end of this conflict is for the international community to reinvest massively in Yemen," Cappelaere told DW. "Unfortunately, Yemen has been governed with very little attention to the Yemeni people and definitely not to the Yemini children."
UNICEF has described the war in Yemen as a "living hell" for the millions of children living in the country, with 400,000 facing starvation and many suffering from malnourishment. The conflict has pushed the country to the brink of famine in what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The four-year war has killed more than 10,000 people, although the actual death toll is believed to be much higher.
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.
