Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
Yemeni Foreign Minister Shayea Al-Zindani on Friday called for a clear and firm stance against Houthi violations against children and humanitarian aid workers.
This came during his meeting with the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Edward Shaker Sheban, to discuss ways to strengthen the existing partnership between the Yemeni government and UNICEF in the humanitarian and development fields.
During the meeting, held on the sidelines of his participation in the Munich Security Conference, Al-Zindani stressed the importance of continuing and strengthening cooperation to ensure a more efficient and effective humanitarian response, according to the official Yemeni news agency.
The Yemeni Foreign Minister stressed the need for a clear and firm stance against Houthi violations against children, including the widespread recruitment campaigns targeting them through (summer camps) and the amendments they have imposed on the school curricula to promote concepts of extremism and hatred.
He called on UNICEF to strengthen monitoring and documentation mechanisms in coordination with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, to ensure that these violations are included in international reports and that concrete measures are taken to reduce them.
He stressed the importance of ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches those who deserve it without obstacles, noting the ongoing violations committed by the Houthi militias against humanitarian workers, including arbitrary detention and kidnapping operations that have affected employees of international organizations and UN agencies, the latest of which was the torture to death of employee Ahmed Baalawi, IT operations officer at the World Food Program.
For his part, Edward Sheban affirmed UNICEF’s commitment to continuing its humanitarian efforts in Yemen, stressing the importance of strengthening partnership with the Yemeni government to ensure the implementation of programs and projects that target the most vulnerable groups, and to achieve an effective response to urgent humanitarian needs.
