UNGA 2021: Yemeni foreign minister calls on UN to end Houthi ‘bloodshed’

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak says Iran's support of the group is only part of their problems

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Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak called on the international community on Monday to help end his country’s civil war, which has raged for more than seven years.

Speaking to the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr Mubarak, who represents the internationally recognised government in Aden, said the situation in his country remains dire.

“The crimes and violations perpetrated by the Houthis are inconceivable,” Mr Mubarak told the assembly.

The internationally backed government has been mired in a bitter conflict with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since September 2014, when Houthi forces stormed the capital Sanaa.

The group is currently engaged in a battle against the ousted government in the resource-rich province of Marib, where hundreds have died and thousands have been displaced.

Mr Mubarak said Iran’s support of the Houthis continues “to be part of the problem in Yemen”.

The foreign minister also took a moment during his remarks to welcome the new UN special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg.

The Swedish diplomat formerly served as the EU’s ambassador to Yemen.

“We reiterate our full co-operation and we hope that his efforts would contribute to fair and sustainable peace on the basis of the terms of reference of a political solution in Yemen guided by the GCC initiative,” said Mr Mubarak.

For the fiscal year of 2021, the US has pledged $515 million in aid to the struggling nation so far.

The UN children's fund called the food insecurity in Yemen "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world," with more than 20 million – about two thirds – of the population relying on foreign aid. It is estimated that every 10 minutes a child starves to death.