Responding to Thursday 13th December's landmark negotiations in Sweden, Johan Mooij, CARE Yemen Country Director, said:
‘The agreement from Sweden is incredibly encouraging to all of us who seek an end to the war and suffering in Yemen. We are delighted to hear that parties to the conflict have agreed to a ceasefire in and withdrawal from Hodeidah and a humanitarian corridor in Taiz.
‘Fighting has persisted in Hodeidah since June, displacing around half a million people. Eighty per cent of Yemen’s commercial and humanitarian aid arrives through Hodeidah port – and the blockage of two vital routes out of the city to the rest of Yemen has also impeded the delivery of lifesaving aid.
‘The conflict in Yemen has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
‘Across Yemen, 1.8 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, of whom 400,000 children under five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. There are around 1.1 million malnourished pregnant and breast-feeding women. Hunger and famine are a direct result of war, and can only fully be eliminated by bringing the conflict to an end. There is no military solution to the crisis in Yemen. The only solution is political, and the negotiations in Sweden represent a landmark first step to ending this conflict.’