YouSaid · the spoken record

Mudawi

lines on the record: 80
first: 2021-09-10
most recent: 2023-05-30
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Ms. Mudawi: Like the Special Envoy, we welcome the recent extension of Yemen’s truce. We hope it will lead to an expanded truce agreement along the lines of what Mr. Grundberg has just described. We also hope the extension will see rapid progress in reopening major roads in and around Taiz, where civilians, commercial traffic and aid agencies have faced intolerable movement constraints for years, and we hope to see a more comprehensive end to the violence in Yemen. Although the fighting and civilian casualties have decreased sharply since April, they have never stopped entirely. On 23 July, for example, shelling in Taiz city killed one child and injured 10 more.”
2022-08-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9110 (2022) · source
“Sustainability through national ownership of basic services is needed, and efforts should promote localized leadership and solutions when and where possible. Throughout the process, we must ensure the protection of civilians and accountability for human rights abuses. Secondly, the safety of aid workers and assets must be ensured. We need the Government and all parties to the conflict to take action in that regard. Impunity for continuing attacks on humanitarian workers and assets must stop. Lastly, flexible, unearmarked and early funding at scale is urgently required in order to address the growing humanitarian needs I described here, including to prevent a dangerous deterioration in the food security situation in South Sudan.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“Representatives of women groups said that all they can do is “cry for peace, as without it, we will never be able to feed our children without help.” They go on to say: “We are being raped, harassed, we have no livelihoods, no opportunities and girls cannot go to school. Humanitarians are doing a great job for the vulnerable people and providing what they can, but we, as women, still have so many needs. This is not the life we chose.” The resilience of the people of South Sudan is commendable, but that is not enough to turn the tide. The Council’s support is needed. I will end with three messages. First, the international response needs humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts working together to address the root causes of the crisis.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“We have reached about 3.1 million people, but have been unable to help the rest — not due to a lack of commitment, but a lack of resources. The $1.7 billion humanitarian response plan is only 26 per cent funded. The World Food Programme has had to reprioritize its food assistance programme. About 4.5 million people will now be targeted, instead of the initial 6 million, putting more people at heightened risk of starvation. The Food and Agriculture organization has also had to reduce plans for seed distribution, which reduces the ability of communities to feed themselves. When our Humanitarian Coordinator, Ms. Sara Nyanti, visited Unity and Upper Nile states in April, women told her of their experiences of gender-based violence, health issues and the lack of education for their children.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“For people to return, South Sudan needs to address the issues keeping people in a holding pattern of displacement — insecurity, the presence of explosive hazards, unresolved housing, land and property issues and lack of basic services. There needs to be planning for sites for internally displaced persons become permanent settlement locations. In short, durable solutions are needed. Humanitarian partners are committed to stay and deliver, but South Sudan remains a dangerous place for humanitarians. So far this year, four humanitarian workers have been killed in the line of duty. Last month, an armed group reportedly attacked a clinic in Pibor county and looted pre-positioned nutritional supplies. Such incidents are unacceptable. This year’s humanitarian response plan aims to assist 6.8 million people.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“With support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and others, humanitarians have worked tirelessly to ensure that preparedness resources are in place ahead of the rainy season. Thanks to the Humanitarian Coordinator’s whole-of-system approach, the impact of flooding this year could be mitigated in Unity state. However, much needs to be done across the country, and resources are scarce. Flood mitigation measures over the years have been insufficient to prevent this annual, predictable and preventable misery. Collective action on climate mitigation and adaptation is needed in the years to come. More than 2 million people remain internally displaced, and more than 2.3 million South Sudanese are refugees.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“Of those, 2.9 million people will likely face emergency levels of hunger, known as Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) level 4, while 87,000 people will probably face catastrophic, famine-like levels of food insecurity/ famine, known as IPC 5. The other big driver of humanitarian need is climate-related shocks. South Sudan now faces a fourth year of above-average rainfall, which has disrupted the agricultural season and constrained food production. With 200,000 people already displaced in Unity state and with new flooding in areas water-logged from last year’s flooding, at least half a million people will likely be impacted by floods this year. In Bentiu, flood waters from last year have receded slowly, limiting access to safe water and resulting in a high risk of cholera.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“Women and girls are at serious risk of gender-based violence when fighting breaks out, as we saw recently in Unity state, where the conflict in Leer, Mayendit and Koch counties resulted in numerous reports of women and girls being raped. Against a backdrop of profound macroeconomic challenges, the drivers of conflict and climate shocks have resulted in a dire humanitarian situation. When it gets as bad as in South Sudan, the spectre of severe hunger and even famine results. Food insecurity will persist this year. About 8.3 million people will likely experience severe food insecurity during the lean season, May to July.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“Ms. Mudawi: I thank you, Madam, for the opportunity to address the Security Council. I will brief the Council on the humanitarian realities that the South Sudanese people face, the challenges that we face in responding and what is needed to improve people’s lives and strengthen their protection. Since we briefed the Council in December (see S/PV.8931), most humanitarian indicators have deteriorated. Subnational violence continues. In March, violence displaced more than 40,000 people in the Abyei Administrative Area and Twic county, Warrap state — a worrisome development in that forgotten area. The displacement of people continues elsewhere due to subnational violence and conflict over resources such as cattle in places such as Equatoria and Jonglei.”
2022-06-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9067 (2022) · source
“The evaluation report should be finalized later this month, and we look forward to sharing it with the Council in the coming weeks. In closing, the extension of the truce will, we hope, bring Yemen one step closer to ending the war altogether. The Security Council’s support for these efforts, as members have just heard from the Special Envoy, remains crucial. The Council’s support in addressing Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is equally important, not only to save lives right now, but to keep Yemen moving towards the just and sustainable peace that can finally end this crisis for good.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“We thank all donors for this support, including pledges last week by the United States and Saudi Arabia. But the full plan needs $144 million, including $80 million to get started. This issue, as Council members know, becomes more dangerous by the hour. We need urgent action on all these points to stop Yemen’s crisis going from bad to worse. On 23 June, Sweden and the European Commission will host a meeting of senior humanitarian officials to discuss many of the issues I have just described. We welcome this opportunity to collaborate with donors on the major strategic challenges facing the response. In parallel, agencies are striving to improve the quality of the response right now. Recommendations from the inter-agency humanitarian evaluation are central to this effort.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“So far this year, shelter programmes are just 14 per cent funded, while activities to provide immediate relief for newly displaced families and coordinate services at displacement sites have received almost no funding at all. To make matters worse, humanitarian aid in Yemen is getting more expensive as a result of the rising global prices I mentioned earlier. The World Food Programme estimates its monthly operating costs in Yemen have gone up by as much as $30 million, owing to surging prices of food, fuel and transport. On a related note, the United Nations plan to address the threat of a catastrophic oil spill from the FSO SAFER tanker remains stalled due to lack of funds. So far, the United Nations has received about $60 million in pledges for the project.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“More than 200 humanitarian partners — two thirds of them Yemeni organizations — are reaching 11 million people every month with assistance, working through the United Nations response plan. But that plan is currently just 26 per cent funded, which is far from enough to last through the year. Underfunding is the third major threat facing the humanitarian situation right now. It is also the reason many essential programmes are scaling back when they should be expanding. Food assistance has already been reduced for 8 million people. Other sectors essential to preventing famine, including nutrition, health, water and sanitation, are all currently funded below 25 per cent. Services for displaced people in Ma’rib, Hajjah, Taiz and other places are also struggling.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“In just the last few weeks, at least 10 attempted carjackings have occurred in Lahj, Taiz, Abyan and Ma’rib, including three attempts in a single day earlier this month. In some cases, these incidents have forced agencies to suspend activities, thereby diminishing the humanitarian dividends of the truce. Amid these attacks, agencies are also facing misinformation campaigns that are making baseless allegations and exacerbating insecurity. We are working with the Government and local authorities to address the rise in insecurity, strengthen public outreach on what agencies are achieving and remind all actors that humanitarian workers are not a target. I also want to emphasize that, despite these challenges, agencies are still delivering aid across Yemen.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“That leads me to a second matter and a second threat — Yemen remains a highly constrained environment for aid work. Despite limited access improvements in some areas during the truce, agencies have actually faced more restrictions on staff movements in recent months, mainly due to regulations issued by local authorities in several areas. We are working with the authorities and other stakeholders to address those concerns as quickly as possible. Agencies are also facing alarming levels of insecurity. Attempted carjackings, abductions and other attacks are all on the rise. Two United Nations staff members arrested in Sana’a last November remain in detention, and five United Nations staff members kidnapped in Abyan in February are still missing. We renew our calls for the immediate release of all detained staff.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“Huge gaps continue in the provision of services such as water, health and education. Mine action is becoming urgent as well, particularly as the truce allows more civilians to move around front-line areas, many of which are contaminated with mines and other explosive remnants of war. In addition, more than 4 million people are still displaced, including more than 7,000 who fled in the past two months alone. Displacement during the truce period was mainly due to people searching for jobs and adequate food. People also fled due to clashes in some areas, despite the truce. We hope that the extended truce will see a more comprehensive end to fighting, including localized clashes. But the scale of the needs is not the only challenge. Aid agencies are also dealing with a growing set of access and security concerns.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“In April, the Yemeni rial strengthened considerably, helping to offset some of the impact of higher global prices. But the April gains have now been almost entirely erased, and people’s money is again losing value. That too will mean less food for hungry families. Let us not forget that most Yemenis do not have much money to start with. That is a result of broader economic decline, including the erratic payment of civil servant salaries that up to one quarter of the population relies on. We welcome recent discussions by the Governments of Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on financial support for Yemen’s economy. Once disbursed, that support could quickly help to reign in the exchange rate, boost purchasing power and reduce hunger. Beyond the food sector, needs also persist at or above pre-truce levels.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“We also know that more than half a million children were already likely to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year. And we estimate that 19 million people across the country are going hungry, including more than 160,000 who are at catastrophic levels of starvation and on the brink of famine. Nevertheless, food prices in Yemen have risen by roughly another 10 per cent since February. That increase comes on top of enormous hikes over the previous year, when prices nearly doubled in many areas. A recent analysis by the Ministry of Planning projects that prices could rise another 50 per cent by the end of the year. If that continues, many fewer people will be able to afford to eat. Currency depreciation is making matters even worse.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“But I must be clear — Yemen’s humanitarian crisis remains as severe today as it was before the truce. In fact, the crisis could soon deteriorate. Allowing that to happen would run counter to the momentum the truce has generated and could undermine prospects for further progress. Right now, aid agencies are especially concerned by signs of growing needs, a shrinking humanitarian space and dwindling budgets. We need urgent action to address all three. Let me start with the first threat — growing needs. As members of the Council know, the war in Ukraine is driving up the prices of food and other commodities worldwide, as well as straining global supply chains. Yemen is particularly vulnerable to those kinds of shocks because almost everything it needs, including nearly all of its food, must be imported.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“Ms. Mudawi: The extension of the truce that the Special Envoy just described is extremely welcome. In its first two months, the truce has had a tremendous impact. We have seen a drop in civilian casualties as fighting has subsided. We have seen an end to severe shortages as more fuel comes in through Al-Hudaydah. We have seen commercial flights resume from Sana’a airport, allowing more people to move in and out of the country. And we have seen better humanitarian access in several areas. Extending the truce will — we hope — allow those trends to continue. It will also provide more time for efforts to reopen roads in Taiz and elsewhere. Improving the freedom of movement is key to improving people’s lives and humanitarian conditions, particularly in Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9063 (2022) · source
“I strongly encourage them to continue to do so by increasing their contributions to the humanitarian response plan. Ensuring adequate funding across all sectors is essential to protecting the delicate gains we have made this year. This is not the moment to slow down, unless we are ready to see record humanitarian suffering come roaring back in Yemen.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“Scaling up humanitarian mine clearance and support for it, including by letting in and expediting the passage of demining equipment into the country, would go a long way towards protecting civilians. On 22 September, a high-level side event on Yemen will take place at the margins of the high-level week at the General Assembly. It will be co-hosted by the European Union, Sweden and Switzerland, and it will be a key opportunity to discuss protection challenges and galvanize support for the country’s most vulnerable. During the event, donors will be able to announce the new contributions they have made since the high-level pledging conference in early March. As I mentioned earlier, donors have demonstrated tremendous generosity this year.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“In addition to causing direct and deadly harm, these explosive weapons, which are littered across large swathes of the country, instil terror in communities and have a deeply negative impact on people’s livelihoods and the wider economy. Many farms and fishing communities in Yemen are standing idle owing to the presence or fear of landmines and sea mines. This represents a further hit to domestic food production and to people’s incomes, when Yemen is already facing dire levels of food insecurity and poverty. I urge all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by refraining from using weapons that are by nature indiscriminate and by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects throughout their military operations. I also call for practical steps to be taken.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“As a result of the conflict, children face horrific threats to their physical, emotional and mental well-being, including being killed or maimed, recruited into armed groups or exposed to sexual violence. People with disabilities, refugees, migrants and other marginalized groups are also highly vulnerable to many of these risks. These are just a few of the perils many civilians face on a daily basis in Yemen. The list is, of course, much longer. There is one additional protection risk I wish to touch upon: landmines and explosive remnants of war. Since 2018, landmines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance have killed or injured more than 1,400 civilians in Yemen, many of them children.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“The extraordinary efforts of those organizations are helping to amplify the voices of women and girls across Yemen and to create better conditions for current and future generations. Yemen is the world’s fourth-largest internal displacement crisis, with numbers rising by the day as people flee violence, as well as flooding and other climate-related disasters in various parts of the country, including in Ma’rib, Taiz, Ad Dali’, Lahij and Al-Hudaydah. Many internally displaced persons find refuge in schools, religious sites or abandoned buildings. Others are forced to take shelter in overcrowded settlements, where clean water, food, electricity and other essential services are in extremely short supply. Yemen’s protection crisis affects many other population groups.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“In the first six months of this year, protection partners were able to reach only a fraction of people in need of protection owing to lack of funds. This is extremely serious in a country where protection needs are so high. Yemen is an incredibly difficult place to live for women and girls. Gender-based violence is rampant across the country. Early marriage and pregnancy, including child mothers, are commonplace. Women and girls are often the last to eat, see a doctor or go to school. I want to take a moment to salute the courage of women-led and women’s rights organizations in Yemen. We are very fortunate to have with us today Ms. Entesar Al-Qadhi, Executive Director of Ma’rib Girls Foundation for Development.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“Health, for example, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene, have received only a tenth of the funding required for this year, threatening to shut down those vital services at a time when Yemen is grappling with multiple disease outbreaks, including cholera, dengue and diphtheria. A deadly third wave of the coronavirus disease is putting the country’s population and its fragile health-care system at further risk. Even food security and agriculture — one of the better-funded sectors in the appeal — currently faces a $750 million funding gap. Without additional support, we could see cuts in that assistance as soon as in the coming weeks. Another sector facing critical shortages in the humanitarian response is protection.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“Together, we managed to prevent famine during the first eight months of this year. Humanitarian organizations are active in all of Yemen’s 333 districts. In June, we provided life-saving assistance to 12.8 million people; that is a full 3.3 million more people than we were able to reach the month before. Those achievements are significant, but they are also fragile and uneven. The threat of famine is not over in Yemen. It will require our continued efforts unless we are ready to sacrifice the important gains we have made and invite famine back again into the country after we have fought so hard to keep it at bay. A lot of this comes down to donor support. A number of sectors remain gravely underfunded, including some that are critical to addressing food insecurity.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“Today I wish to speak about what the humanitarian community is doing to mitigate some of those terrible consequences and what more needs to be done. As the Security Council well knows, Yemen is home to the world’s largest humanitarian aid operation. That is of course a distinction no country or people would wish upon themselves, but it speaks to the commitment of the international community to stand by the people of Yemen in their hour of need. Over the past few months, we have seen a surge in donor funding. The Yemen humanitarian response plan is now one of the best-funded appeals in the world, having received more than $1.9 billion so far this year, which is 50 per cent of its total requirement. That support has enabled the United Nations and its partners to scale up life-saving assistance across the country.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source
“Ms. Mudawi: I thank you, Madam President, for the opportunity to brief the Security Council. As Hans Grundberg just described, conflict is raging across many parts of the country, especially in Ma’rib, where fighting has again become particularly fierce. As always, it is civilians who are paying the highest price. During Under-Secretary-General Griffiths’s last briefing to the Council, two and half weeks ago (see S/PV.8840), he outlined the many ways in which the war in Yemen is compounding people’s suffering. We see it in the country’s crumbling economy. We see it in the disintegration of essential services. And we see it in the faces of the millions of men, women and children who, despite their extraordinary resilience, are being forced deeper into desperation.”
2021-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8854 (2021) · source