Saudi Arabia/Yemen, Niger, Ethiopia & other topics - Daily Briefing (22 March 2021)

The United Nations of Earth reporting on this issue: "Saudi Arabia/Yemen, Niger, Ethiopia & other topics - Daily Briefing (22 March 2021)"
The topics: Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: - Yemen - Niger - Ethiopia - Syria - Turkey - Myanmar - Central African Republic - United Nations/IE University - COVAX - Water Day - Financial Contribution YEMEN We welcome today’s announcement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of its intention to undertake a number of measures to help end the conflict in Yemen, which align with the UN’s initiative. We also welcome Saudi support for UN efforts. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths has been working to secure a nationwide ceasefire, the re-opening of Sana’a Airport to civilian air traffic, allowing additional fuel and commodities to enter Hudaydah Port and resuming a political process to end the conflict. There is no doubt that every effort must be made to end the conflict in Yemen and address the suffering of the Yemeni people and the United Nations looks forward to continuing its work with the parties to achieve this goal. Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, visited Marib in the weekend to see first-hand the growing humanitarian impact of renewed hostilities in the governorate. During his visit, Mr. Gressly met with local authorities, including the Governor of Marib, and with humanitarian partners working on the ground. He also visited two displacement sites, where he met with internally displaced people and community members. Up to 15,000 people have been displaced in Marib since fighting escalated in early February. Many of them live in extremely precarious conditions. NIGER I was asked about weekend attacks in Niger, and I can say that the Secretary-General strongly condemns the despicable attacks conducted on 21 March by unidentified gunmen in the Tahoua region of the Republic of Niger, which reportedly killed at least 60 civilians. He expresses his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wishes a swift recovery to the injured. The Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to sustain support to Niger in its efforts to counter and prevent terrorism and promote social cohesion. ETHIOPIA Turning to Ethiopia: Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the ongoing conflict in Tigray continues to drive massive displacement across the region. Tens of thousands of people have arrived into Shire, Axum and Adwa in the last couple of weeks, most of them fleeing fighting in Western Tigray. There are also reports of people uprooted by violence in North Western and Central Zones. According to our humanitarian colleagues, people arriving in towns from the rural zones of Tigray are visibly malnourished and in desperate need of life-saving support, after enduring four and half months of conflict with little access to vital supplies. Despite challenges, aid workers are scaling up the response and have assisted more than one million people with complete food baskets. Nearly 140,000 newly displaced people received emergency shelter and vital relief items and more than 630,000 people received clean water. The new notification process established by the Government for movement of cargo and workers has enabled humanitarian partners to increase their presence and operations in Tigray. However, the humanitarian situation is extremely dire and continues to deteriorate. We urgently need more funding to make sure we can urgently assist people impacted by the conflict. Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=22%20March%202021


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