Secretary General, Excellencies, Ministers, respected principals, colleagues – thank you for the opportunity to join you.
In being here, you are showing solidarity with the people of Yemen - that you will not stand by while Yemenis suffer.
The people of Yemen are famed for their hospitality. It is a gift they have been too long prevented from sharing. Eight years of protracted conflict have seen too many lives lost, the collapse of basic infrastructure and services and economic deterioration that has left millions facing hunger and reliant on aid to survive – aid that you must provide today. The poorest are being forced further into debt, deepening poverty and inequality and worsening an already acute protection crisis.
For many years now, civil society has been core to conflict resolution and humanitarian response across Yemen. I am humbled and honoured today to bring you some of the perspectives of our staff and partners. Their determination and drive is an example we should all aspire to follow.
Humanitarian aid continues to keep the worst at bay in Yemen. But today must also see the international community redouble commitments to support a long-term - sustained solution to the root causes of the suffering: a durable end to the conflict, greater economic stability, and development. In the words of my colleague Nada - “even when there is no war – the impact is still all around – high food prices and economic instability – the worry is eating our head every day.”
Today must also see solid support for a principled humanitarian response that can reach all people in need - particularly Yemeni women – who form almost half of all those in need.
Daily in Yemen ordinary people are forced to make extraordinary, wrenching choices. I heard about how one mother, desperate for income, travels two hours from home to work in a field for one dollar a day, forced to leave her nine-year-old child in charge of nine younger siblings. She is exhausted by constant worry and fear. Her meagre income barely sustains her family as food prices spike. She just wants to earn enough to buy a sewing machine so she could generate income from home.