parties at UN-facilitated talks agree on delivery of humanitarian aid in Taiz

On the third day of the United Nations-sponsored negotiations on ending the crisis in Yemen, the participants, meeting in Switzerland, have reached an agreement which allows for a full and immediate resumption of humanitarian assistance to the central city of Taiz, UN News Center reported.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, welcomed this agreement as “a major step forward that will ensure immediate action to alleviate the human suffering of the Yemeni people and to ensure the neutral and impartial character of humanitarian action.”

A large UN convoy, carrying essential humanitarian supplies, reached the most affected districts of the city of Taiz and will start distributing assistance to those in need in the coming days. It is also expected that humanitarian assistance will reach Hajja, Sa’ada and other deprived Yemeni cities in the coming days.

The special envoy has congratulated the participants in the talks for this first important achievement and has encouraged them to work towards further agreements on measures that will allow for rapid, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach people in need across all Yemeni governorates.

The consultations will continue in the next few days and seek to define a clear way forward with a special focus on specific areas: the development of a sustainable national ceasefire and the release of prisoners and detainees, the withdrawal of forces and creation of interim security measures, the organized return of heavy weapons to the State, the restoration of State control over public institutions in order to fight terrorism, in addition to the resumption of an inclusive political dialogue.

Sources: MENA