Preparations Underway for the Next Round of Peace Talks for Yemen

1 Apr 2016

Preparations Underway for the Next Round of Peace Talks for Yemen

Preparations are currently underway for Yemeni-Yemeni peace talks, to be held under the auspices of the United Nations in Kuwait starting 18 April. The talks aim to reach a comprehensive agreement, which will end the war and allow the resumption of inclusive political dialogue in line with UN Security Council resolution 2216 (2015) and other relevant UNSC resolutions

“I am looking forward to the active participation of relevant parties in the talks. Yemeni delegations should seize this opportunity to provide a mechanism for a return to a peaceful and orderly transition based on the GCC Initiative and the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference,” said Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen. “We are planning and preparing at full speed. UN political experts have already been deployed to Sana’a and Riyadh in order to work with the delegations gearing up for the resumption of talks. Another team is on its way to Kuwait to finalize the preparations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The Special Envoy encouraged the parties to engage constructively in the talks, including on the areas of the withdrawal of militias and armed groups, the handover of heavy weapons to the State, interim security arrangements, the restoration of state institutions and the resumption of inclusive political dialogue, in addition to the creation of a special committee for prisoners and detainees.

Within this same context, the Special Envoy welcomes the encouraging steps taken recently between Saudi Arabia and Ansarallah, such as the release of prisoners and the relative calming at the borders. “These initiatives reinforced the spirit of the confidence building measures recommended at the previous round of talks and there is no doubt that they can provide an important drive to the political process,” he said.

The parties to the conflict have agreed to a nation-wide cessation of hostilities beginning at midnight on 10 April. “With political will, good faith and balance, they could take this opportunity to end the conflict and pave the way towards a permanent and durable end of the war,” added the Special Envoy.

 

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For more information, please contact:

Charbel Raji, Communication Advisor

Email: raji1@un.org

Tel: +1-917-4284264