Mr. President,

I wish to thank Special Envoy Hans Grundburg and acting ASG Ramesh Rajasingham for the briefings. I also welcome the Permanent Representative of Yemen to this meeting today. 

Today is the last deliberating this year on the issue of Yemen. For this year, instead of getting better, the Yemeni situation, by and large, has deteriorated. Monitoring hostilities in Marib and on other fronts have caused heavy casualties. Frequent attacks against Saudi Arabia's civilian infrastructure posed a serious threat to civilian security. We find these developments deeply concerning. As the special envoy has rightly said in his briefing, what's been happening on the battlefield fully demonstrates that hostilities create no winners. Military option is not an option at all, and political segment must be upheld. 

China supports the UN-mediated peace process in Yemen. We welcome the peace initiative announced by Saudi Arabia in March. The Special Envoy Grundburg spoke of how after extensive engagement with all parties in the early stage he had come up with a number of preliminary conclusions. We hope that the Special Envoy will on this basis come up with an actionable peace roadmap as soon as possible. For their part, the Yemeni parties should put the future of the country and the interest of the people first, return to the right track of dialogue and negotiation without delay and facilitate the Special Envoy’s work by providing conveniences and active support. The parties to the conflict have their respective concerns in achieving a ceasefire, lifting of the blockade on Sana airport and the port of Hudaydah and other issues. All parties must demonstrate sufficient political will and persist in moving in the same direction so as to find solutions to the key issues acceptable to all. The regional countries concerned must create an enabling external environment for the restoration of peace and stability in Yemen.

Mr. President, 

In the six-year long conflict in Yemen, food prices have more than doubled, employment shrunk and the population's purchasing power declined, repeatedly pushing the country to the brink of famine. While Yemen's humanitarian needs are increasingly pressing in the context of COVID-19 and the rising global humanitarian needs, the resources available for mobilization and allocation to Yemen are dwindling. The international community must offer more effective and sustainable means in response to the economic and humanitarian crisis to protect and save more lives. 

In this regard, the UN recently unveiled Yemen economic framework aiming to provide short term and mid to long term assistance in a phased manner, committed to providing emergency food aid, improving local food productivity and the populations purchasing power, reducing the prices of imported food and promoting market liquidity etc. China commands this. We encourage the international community, including the donor countries, to increase bilateral and multilateral system, with closer coordination with the UN system. We welcome the recent adjustments made by the Yemeni Government to its financial and fiscal departments, so they can function with greater professionalism and efficiency, thus bolstering international confidence in Yemen's economy. 

I wish also to emphasize that the parties to the conflict must guarantee safe and unhindered humanitarian access, maintain the operation of all ports, and ensure immediate delivery of humanitarian goods to people in need. The issue of the Safer Oil tanker can no further be protracted. We hope the Houthis will meet their promise to allow the UN team to board the tanker to conduct inspections and repairs without delay. 

I thank you, Mr. President.