YouSaid · the spoken record

Nirvana Shawky

lines on the record: 12
first: 2021-03-16
most recent: 2021-03-16
sittings or episodes: 1
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

“Thirdly, as a matter of urgency, the Security Council should exercise its responsibility to end this dreadful conflict once and for all and support Yemenis to regain peace, stability and prosperity. The hopes of Yemenis are universal; they are not asking for anything beyond what most of us take for granted. But their futures are all contingent on the conflict ending. Yemeni people live on the hope that life will be better one day. This is what keeps everyone going and helps them to support each other as communities and families. Please help to provide some light to the Yemeni people, who have been living in the darkness of this conflict for far too long. They are depending on you all.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“First, the Council should address economic stabilization and recovery as a fundamental and urgent priority, to allow Yemenis to escape the cycle of poverty and to live with the choices and dignity that we take for granted elsewhere. Secondly, the humanitarian response, which as you all know is the lifeline for millions of people, must be fully funded. As Mr. Lowcock just explained, the more- than $2 billion funding gap must be filled. While improving humanitarian access is an absolute necessity, which Security Council members must endeavour to assist us with, we must always prioritize the needs of those who have no alternatives to humanitarian aid for survival.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“Last year the humanitarian community implemented effective coronavirus (COVID-19)disease prevention programming, but with a second wave of COVID-19 on the horizon, people are worried that the meagre health facilities will be overwhelmed. Given my remarks today, you will not be surprised to hear that I support the recommendations just outlined by Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Lowcock. On behalf of my Yemeni colleagues, my request to the Council is to please remember that the needs of the Yemeni people are simple. They want to be able to go to the market with enough money to buy food. They want to be able to educate their children instead of sending them to work, or to fight or to beg, or having to marry them off. For this we urge the Council to address the following three pressing priorities.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“It is impossible to imagine any kind of future for Yemen without stressing the need to support and strengthen the economy. The conflict has left communities to face increasing health risks, often aggravated by a lack of money to buy medicine or travel to clinics, as well as the simple but deadly threat of poor water and sanitation services. One of our staff in Hajjah told me, for example, that people depend on rainwater ponds as their only source of water for drinking, cleaning and washing. She said that usually the ponds are full of rubbish and worms and can cause serious illnesses, including cholera and typhoid, which already malnourished people do not have the immune systems to fight. But they have no other choice.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“This is why it is crucial to equip women and young people with skills to enable them to earn an income and lead safe, secure and dignified lives. This is where CARE tries to support. Another point to bring to your attention is the state of Yemen’s economy. Before the current conflict, Yemen was exporting oil and gas, which generated enough revenue for the country. But since 2015 those exports have reduced to a trickle. Large oil and gas companies have not resumed their activities, even in areas without active conflict If they were to resume, it would help to stabilize the economy. It would also provide fuel for electricity power stations and enable civil servant salaries to be paid. All of this would help to lower the price of food and essential needs in Yemen.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“The latest data show that 2.25 million children and over 1 million pregnant women and new mothers are severely malnourished and at risk of starvation. Take, for example, the story of Samer, a new-born baby in Al-Hudaydah. His mother, who could not breastfeed him because she was malnourished herself, had to use poor-quality baby formula, which meant Samer suffering from severe acute malnutrition as well. Luckily, he is receiving treatment, which means he will live to see his next birthday. But there are thousands of Yemeni children who do not share his luck. As these stories show you, we see how women and children suffer the most — from higher levels of malnutrition, less access to food and health care and increased exposure to gender-based violence.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“One man, Ali Nasser, told our field staff that he and his family fled from airstrikes in Medghal district to seek refuge in Ma’rib city last year. Ali Nasser’s wife told us, “We ran for our lives when fighting suddenly broke out in our area. I needed help because my son is mentally ill and has diabetes. We stayed in an empty cramped room for about a month. Then we came here to Ma’rib city and we ended up living on the sand.” Families’ coping mechanisms have become increasingly desperate over the past year, as the impacts of funding cuts, the blockade and a lack of remittances take their toll on food prices and their ability to buy food. As Mr. Lowcock has told the Council, people are already dying of acute malnutrition in parts of Yemen.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“They heard of one woman, a widow with three daughters — aged 14, 15 and 16 — who had fled from fighting in Taiz. They were living in a very basic shelter without doors or windows, leaving the girls extremely exposed and at risk of harassment. For this woman, the only way to protect her girls was to marry them to much older men. We all know that life is much harder if you are displaced even once — you lose your home, your community, possessions, livestock and identification documents. Imagine, then, having to flee for multiple times — two, three or even four times. You have nothing. You may manage only to carry around necessities like two or three kitchen items, some dirty bedding and precious family photographs.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“Over the past few weeks, as fighting has intensified on the front lines in Ma’rib, the focus has rightly turned to the risks that face internally displaced people in camps and settlements scattered across the governorate and the country. Four million people have been displaced from all over the country since the beginning of the conflict, in 2015, and just under one third of displaced households are headed by women or girls. My colleagues working in governorates like Ma’rib and Hajjah, which see the highest numbers of internally displaced people, tell me that displaced women and girls suffer the most from a lack of privacy without substantial shelters or proper latrines, as well as threats to their safety and limited access to basic services, making them even more vulnerable to violence and abuse.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“As we enter the seventh year of the conflict, there are millions of Yemeni children and teenagers who struggle to remember life without insecurity and food shortages, and millions of parents are constantly suffering psychological trauma. In addition to the violence, funding cuts to the humanitarian response are taking an enormous toll on Yemenis. For our Yemeni colleagues, who often support more than 20 people in their extended families, these cuts are deeply unsettling and anxiety-provoking. They worry that more cuts will mean they can no longer provide the necessities to their families. I would like to take this opportunity to update you about the situation on the ground.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“So what is the general mood in Yemen? My colleagues tell me, “We have heard countless times in the past six years about opportunities for peace in Yemen. We hear that, with sufficient will and effort from the international community, the war in Yemen can be ended”. However, despite moments like the signing of the Stockholm Agreement and the Riyadh agreement, this sense of optimism is not sustained. My Yemeni colleagues tell me that, every time they hear these speeches and statements, they feel hopeful. Every time, they think it means that the conflict is finally coming to an end. And then the attacks and fighting resume, the war enters a new year, new front lines are opened and the brutal reality swiftly replaces any fleeting hope. It is hard to imagine the toll this takes on people’s psychological well-being.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source
“I am honoured to address the Security Council today on behalf of my organization, CARE, and the humanitarian community in Yemen. After the Second World War, CARE was established to help Europeans who were living in hunger and poverty. Today we are assisting people in Yemen suffering the same anguish — 16 million people are hungry, and four in five Yemenis live below the poverty line. CARE has been in Yemen for almost 30 years, since 1992, and last year we were fortunate to deliver humanitarian and development assistance to almost 3 million people in 14 governorates across the country. We have over 400 staff members, the vast majority of whom are Yemenis living and working close to the people they support. It is on their behalf that I have the privilege to speak to you today and share their perspectives from the ground.”
2021-03-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/266 (2021) · source