75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
UN Security Council meeting on Yemen
Statement by Ambassador Sven Jürgenson
September 10, New York
I thank Special Envoy Grundberg for his briefing and wish him all the success in his new role. I also thank Deputy Director Mudawi and Ms Al-Qadhi for their briefings.
Estonia is deeply concerned about increased military activity in Yemen during the recent weeks, especially in Marib, which has caused further civilian casualties and displacement. Civilians and civilian infrastructure has also been targeted in Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, including Abha International airport. We urge all parties to refrain from indiscriminate attacks against civilian objects, as they are a violation to international humanitarian law.
We also call upon all parties to engage constructively with the new Special Envoy and to show willingness to compromise and agree to a sustainable ceasefire and a resumption of inclusive political process, with the participation of women and youth.
Echoing the messages stated by Ms Al-Qadhi, we call for full, equal and meaningful participation of women in the peace efforts, as well as the increased role of women in Yemen’s political life and humanitarian response.
We also call upon the Government of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council to resume the implementation of the Riyadh agreement and to refrain from actions which will further increase tensions in an already volatile situation.
The fighting in Yemen must stop immediately, as it has a devastating effect on peoples’ lives. Besides direct impact in form of casualties, there are also strong interlinkages between the protracted conflict and the socio-economic and humanitarian situation, as well as violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
The absence of a long-term agreement between the conflict parties on the import of fuel and commercial imports through Hodeidah port contributes to the increase in food prices and thus to the exacerbating of food insecurity. In this context, we welcome the upcoming pledging event, co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland, aimed at supporting the humanitarian aid efforts in Yemen.
Due to the worsening socio-economic conditions caused by the conflict, children are forced into early marriage or recruited. And, as recently reported by the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, the parties to the conflict have committed sexual and gender-based violence and have engaged in enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture, in violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
This calls for more attention to the vulnerability of women and children to the protection risks related to worsening economic and humanitarian conditions.
We repeat our call to all parties to refrain from such violations and abuses, to ensure accountability and to cooperate with the Group of Eminent Experts, which regrettably for the third consecutive year was not able to access Yemen and other coalition countries.
Finally, we repeat our call upon the Houthis to ensure immediate and full access for the UN team to the SAFER oil tanker for an assessment and light repairs mission.