General Debate under Agenda Item: 10

Technical assistance and capacity-building

5 July 2018

Joint statement by: International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD) and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)

Thank you, Mr. President,

We would like to call on the Council’s attention once again on the potentially worst humanitarian crisis of the last 50 years, which continues to crop up in Yemen while utterly affecting the welfare of Yemeni people. We maintain that the imposition and constant renewal of the sanctions regime has brought devastating effects for the human rights fulfilment of Yemeni people, it has debilitated the already torn up country, and  has altogether aggravated the humanitarian crisis in terms of access to food and medical supplies.

EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) believe that efforts made by the international community for lifting the blockade, while addressing the causes of the ongoing civil war through peace negotiations and providing protection to civilians’ human rights to restore their dignity is the best approach for starting the process of ameliorating the unfortunate plight of Yemeni People.

We remind the Council that nearly 20 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance, 3 million people are internally displaced.  However, humanitarian aid can only temporarily ease the desperate situation in Yemen. Only a peace-reaching approach can lead to a definite solution. We thus urge the international community to intensify the efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace in the country.

We hold that a peace-reaching approach will lead to a definite solution for the current plight in Yemen, but we note that increased efforts for humanitarian assistance is urgently needed until definite solutions are reached for Yemenis’ survival, welfare, restoration and human rights protection.

Thank you,