United Nations's video: Yemen: Recent attacks on the UAE Saudi Arabia - Security Council Briefing 15 February 2022

Recent attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia indicate how the conflict in Yemen risks spiralling out of control, the chief UN mediator for the country told the Security Council today (15 Feb), as he called for “serious efforts” to be made by Yemeni parties, the region and the international community, to end the fighting, now in its seventh year. The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said, “the recent months of escalation has put a spotlight on the regional dimension of the conflict in Yemen.” Grundberg said, “it should be obvious to everyone just how high the stakes have become,” recalling attacks in January by Ansar Allah – also known as the Houthis - on the UAE. The Special Envoy said, “my conviction is that a structured and focused approach that does not shy away from the fundamental and complex challenges is needed. However, trust is low and ending this war will require uncomfortable compromises which no warring party is currently willing to make.” For Yemenis, the past month was marked by a multiplication of frontlines and a record number of civilian casualties. A coalition airstrike on a detention facility in Sadaa, which killed or injured more than 300 detainees, was among the worst incidents in three years. UN humanitarian affairs chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, reported more than 650 civilian casualties reported in January – an average of 21 civilians killed or injured each day by air strikes, shelling, small arms fire and other violence. He said access impediments remain a major problem, with aid workers facing far too many restrictions, and security challenges persist, but stressed that the biggest challenge by far is the funding gap. Griffiths said, “the scale of the current gaps are unprecedented in Yemen. We have never before contemplated giving millions of hungry people no food at all. Or to suspend the flights that we need to get aid workers and supplies into, around, and out of the country.” If these gaps aren't addressed, he warned, “it will simply be a death sentence for people whose coping mechanisms, in some cases are completely exhausted, and who rely on assistance for their survival.” Aid agencies are quickly running out of money, forcing them to slash life-saving programmes. By the end of January, nearly two-thirds of major UN aid programmes had already scaled back or closed altogether. In his briefing to the Council, Yemen’s Ambassador Abdullah al-Saadi said, “the Iranian supported Houthi militias continue to choose war over peace, undermining the stability and security of Yemen and the region. The militias continue to reject all peace initiatives and waste all opportunities to move forward the political process. The Houthi militias persist, and their escalation and their military aggression against the Yemeni people. All of these actions prolong the conflict and make the road to peace more difficult and more costly, whether economically, politically, or in humanitarian terms.” In 2021, nearly 200 organizations worked together through the United Nations response plan to assist more than 11 million people every month, reaching every one of Yemen’s 333 districts.