Martin Griffiths (on screen), United Nations special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, briefs the Security Council on the situation in Yemen, at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 11, 2018. Martin Griffiths on Tuesday urged efforts be made to stay focused on nurturing the Yemeni political process, particularly in its early stages. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- UN special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, on Tuesday urged efforts be made to stay focused on nurturing the Yemeni political process, particularly in its early stages.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Yemen, Griffiths said that efforts should also be made to build the needed momentum so that "it can deliver tangible benefits to Yemenis throughout Yemen."
"Such a process is not simply about holding and moving from one big and short event to the next," he said, adding that "it needs political will, determination and commitment from all actors as well as putting the interests of the Yemeni people above all else."
Describing "the war has been escalating across all fronts," he said "the level of confidence is at its lowest and the human and humanitarian cost is ever rising."
Noting that the parties "have furthermore been locked into a vicious cycle of violence," he said the main victims of this war, Yemeni people, "have been yearning for a peaceful political solution that can end their misery, put an end to the war and deliver a government that can address their basic needs."
"This is no longer a race between political and military solutions. It is, instead, a race to salvage what is left of state institutions as quickly as possible," he said.
"It is with this sense of urgency that I was encouraged to move forward with the parties so as to inject a prospect of hope to this otherwise stagnant conflict," he said.
After two days of delay due to the absence of the Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties in the conflict in Yemen, the new round of UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iran-backed Houthi rebels forced him into exile.
The UN has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with 7 million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths.
