Yemen: Statement During Briefing

Madam President,

I thank Mr. Griffiths, Mr. Lowcock and Ms. Nirvana Shawky, for their briefing.

It is with sorrow that the Kenya delegation learned of the fire incident that occurred on 7th March, 2021 at the Immigration Nationality and Passport Agency holding facility in Sanaa. We convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish quick recovery to the injured.

Kenya is gravely concerned over the escalating conflict in Marib. The reports of further displacement of over 15,000 people who were already living in informal settlements and the uncertainty faced by the over 1 million IDP's near Marib is quite disturbing.

We are further concerned by the intensified hostilities between factions with access to more weaponry. We should be progressing further with a political negotiation that is the basis of sustained peace rather than the reversals we are observing.

Madam President,

The ongoing fuel blockade which has prevented commercial ships from bringing fuel into Hudaydah further exacerbates the already dire humanitarian situation. Kenya calls on all the stakeholders with any impact on humanitarian-relevant infrastructure in Yemen to ensure it is protected and that there are no deliberate or inadvertent blockages.

We urge this Council to take note of objective and verified information on any party who may be deliberately undermining or frustrating the UN's humanitarian relief effort. For Kenya, all efforts must be made to ease the unnecessary suffering of millions of civilians.

Kenya encourages humanitarian agencies to deploy new and innovative solutions that invest in strengthening local food production.

It is clear to Kenya, and should be clearer to this Council, that terrorist groups in Yemen, and elsewhere, are a present and future threat to any established peace. The Special Envoy should practice the utmost caution in ensuring that the peace process does not offer these groups a way to insert and escalate their ideological reach and operations.

Furthermore, we strongly recommend that the peace resolution and recovery process have built into a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration plus. That plus represents a disengagement process that uses psycho-social and counter narrative tools, and family trust building, and robust vetting to minimise risk to disengage combatants who have fought for terrorist groups.

Resolution 2564 (2021) which we adopted on 25th February 2021 broadly expresses the concerns and aspirations that the Security Council has for Yemen. We have also had the opportunity to listen to voices of Yemeni women and youth. We believe that they should be enabled to meaningfully contribute to a Yemeni-led and Yemeni owned peace process. We encourage the Special Envoy to include the voices of the victims of terrorism in Yemen, of women in their quest for empowerment and inclusion, and of civil voices from the religious community renowned for advocating for freedom of religion.

We recognise with thanks the countries and institutions contributing to the humanitarian relief effort in Yemen, and encourage them to sustain their compassionate commitment.

I thank you.