LOC10:47
07:47 GMT
NEW YORK, Nov 17 (KUNA) -- Britain will present a draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Yemen to the UN Security Council next Monday, British Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Karen Pierce said.
Pierce told a UN Security Council session on Friday that her country's foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, had been asked to inform council regarding the resolution, which "meets the five demands" of the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock.
At the meeting, Lowcock identified five key demands that council members called for to complete without delay, including the cessation of hostilities in and around all infrastructure and facilities on which relief operations and commercial importers depend.
Lowcock also requested the facilitation and protection of food and other commodities throughout the country, with the need to support the Yemeni economy by pumping foreign currency, paying salaries and pensions, and increasing funding and support to aid operations.
Lowcock added that Saudi Arabia helped stabilize the Yemeni riyal, adding USD 200 million to the Central Bank of Yemen, which helped finance imports of food and other basic commodities, but much more money was needed for humanitarian assistance in the face of growing challenges.
For his part, UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith said that although the conflict continues, he welcomes recent reports on reducing violence in the country.
He said the Yemeni government and Houthis were committed to working towards a political solution, adding that he had received firm assurances from both sides of a renewed commitment to attend the talks.
Griffith said he was about to conclude an agreement between the two sides on the exchange of prisoners and detainees, describing it as "an important humanitarian gesture and a message of hope in a timely manner to the Yemeni people."
The UN envoy to Yemen gave general ideas on his proposed plan to resume peace talks between the Yemeni parties in Sweden and talked about a new paper whose basic reference would be international resolutions and Kuwait consultations. (end)
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