UNSC calls on all parties in Yemen to allow "safe, rapid, and unhindered access for humanitarian supplies"

UN Security Council members were updated on the critical, humanitarian situation in Yemen including the widespread and acute malnutrition on the verge of famine.

Speaking to the press,according to Kuwait News Agency, the UNSC President Olof Skoog of Sweden said the Council have called on all parties to allow "safe, rapid, and unhindered access for humanitarian supplies and to facilitate access for essential imports of food, fuel and medical supplies into the country and throughout." Member states also called for allowing access to journalists to report on the situation.

Further, the Council members expressed serious concern at the devastating humanitarian impact of the conflict on the Yemeni people, and the risk that it will continue to deteriorate in the absence of the peace agreement.

Skoog told journalists after the meeting, that the 15-member body called on all parties to the conflict to renew their commitment to a cessation of hostilities and to engage constructively with a de-escalation and coordination committee.

The UNSC members emphasized their support for the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismael Ould Sheikh Ahmad, and called upon all the parties to work with him to develop the comprehensive agreement into a negotiated political solution to the conflict in Yemen.