Yemen

Mr. President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis,

Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I would like to congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on his election as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations for its seventy-eighth session, wishing him success and accomplishment in his great responsibilities, and commending the role played by his predecessor, Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, in leading the Assembly during the past session.

I also commend the role of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, in strengthening the presence of this international organization amid all these interconnected global challenges and crises, and his vision for the future of international cooperation based on multilateralism and complementarity in preserving international peace and security and fostering friendly relations among nations.

Allow me also to take this opportunity to extend my sincere congratulations to the great people of Yemen, who, coinciding with the convening of this high-level meeting, are celebrating their national holidays that liberated Yemen from the yoke of despotism, ignorance, and backwardness into the vastness of freedom, justice, and the elimination of class disparities and discrimination.

It may well be a grave miscalculation on the part of the militias that they ventured their ominous coup against national consensus on such a day in this very month, in which Yemenis light up the earth and the skies in celebration of the birth of their Republic and the fall of the backward, theocratic Imamate rule.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This new session of the United Nations General Assembly convenes under highly complex geopolitical, economic, and climatic circumstances and challenges, which require all of us to devise innovative solutions and to change our traditional mechanisms in approaching these challenges — foremost among them, ending the prolonged suffering of the Yemeni people.

The theme of this session appears to have been carefully designed to embrace the demands of our peoples and governments in rebuilding trust in our national and international institutions, and igniting global solidarity in support of the Sustainable Development Goals toward peace, prosperity, and progress for all.

This obliges us — my colleagues, members of the Presidential Leadership Council, the Government, and the Yemeni people — to commend the solidarity and the unified position of the international community in support of constitutional legitimacy, Yemen's sovereignty, independence, territorial unity, and non-interference in its internal affairs.

As we value this unified political stance of the international community toward the Yemeni cause, we recall what may best embody the theme of this session: the solidarity of our brethren in the Coalition to Support Legitimacy, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose positions have served as a strong bulwark preventing the collapse of Yemeni state institutions and bolstering their resilience in confronting the Houthi militias backed by the Wilayat al-Faqih regime in Iran, and the terrorist organizations colluding with them.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I address you today in this hall for the second time as President of the Presidential Leadership Council of the Republic of Yemen, allow me to brief you on the current situation and the points of progress and setback in my country, which is afflicted by the war of the Houthi militias backed by the Iranian regime.

Over the past months, the Yemeni Government, with the support of brothers and friends, has continued to fulfill its imperative obligations, including the regular payment of employee salaries, saving millions of lives, and assisting those stranded in some areas of armed conflict and internal and external disasters — a purely national and moral mission that is of no concern to the militias.

In the midst of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, we have unilaterally coordinated our full response to alleviate suffering and to abide by the terms of the UN-brokered truce, beginning with facilitating the arrival of fuel vessels to ports forcibly controlled by the militias, and resuming and expanding flights through Sana'a International Airport to new destinations.

We have also maintained relative stability of the national currency and the prices of basic commodities, despite the catastrophic repercussions of Houthi militia attacks on oil facilities and their removal from export for an entire year.

Despite the fluctuation of exchange rates in the liberated governorates, the fact remains that the assessment of basic commodity prices in foreign currencies is far better than in areas controlled by the militias, which receive three times the resources of the legitimate government.

We have granted greater representation to key social groups such as women, having appointed the first woman to the Supreme Judicial Council, followed by eight others to the Supreme Court for the first time in the country's history.

We have also effectively assisted, with appreciated support from the international community, in averting one of the most dangerous environmental disasters in the world by unconditionally facilitating the transfer of the oil stock from the FSO Safer tanker to an alternative vessel, with the Government contributing five million dollars toward the cost of the new ship despite its limited resources. We will continue to support these efforts until the fuel cargo is sold and the danger is fully eliminated.

Our commitment to our constitutional and moral responsibilities, and our service-oriented initiatives and interventions, has helped feed millions, facilitate access to life-saving vaccines and medicines, provide security to local communities, and promote a discourse of development instead of slogans of hatred, war, and destruction.

However, there remain many heavy obligations that exceed the capacities of the Yemeni Government, amid the dominance of the war economy fueled by the militias, the influx of tens of thousands of illegal migrants, and the effects of climate change, which leave behind hundreds of victims annually and destroyed agricultural lands — all of which require the assistance of the international community and our shared participation in bearing the burdens of these challenges.

Mr. President,

Last year my country witnessed a historic transformation, whereby the institutions of Yemeni legitimacy were reorganized and a Presidential Council was formed, on the basis of strengthening partnership, building peace, and ending the war.

Yet despite this significant national transformation and the regional and international momentum to revive the political process, the peace file has remained stagnant, despite the concessions and initiatives offered by the Yemeni Government in support of this path.

With the resumption of the good offices of our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman, hopes are renewed that the Houthi militias will submit to popular, regional, and international will, and acknowledge the truth that only a state guaranteeing rights and freedoms, and the rule of law based on justice and equal citizenship, will make our country more secure, stable, and respected within its regional and international surroundings.

This is the rationale of the legitimate Government, and the ultimate goal of any effort toward sustainable peace, which must mean broad partnership without discrimination or exclusion, and laying the foundation for a brighter future.

Today, I do not believe the Government has any further concessions left to offer, nor that we should alter our understanding of militias whom we know well and whose intentions we can predict for decades to come.

Should we do so, this approach would return our people to eras of servitude, frustration, and oblivion; indeed, it is likely that our country would turn into a hotbed for exporting terrorism and a fuse for a regional and international conflict that could not be contained through diplomatic means.

Therefore, any laxity on the part of the international community, or any compromise on the legal status of the state, or even dealing with the militias as a de facto authority, would render the practice of repression and the violation of public freedoms a behavior impossible to eliminate under any circumstances.

Based on our understanding of the approach of the Houthi militias, their peace offers are nothing but trial balloons that should be dealt with from a tactical perspective — a means to control more resources and postpone the decision for military confrontation until better conditions arise. This is what happened with their reneging on all previous agreements, most recently the Stockholm Agreement.

We therefore affirm the necessity of providing sufficient guarantees for sustainable peace, which must be founded upon the three references agreed upon nationally, regionally, and internationally, and upon recourse to international legitimacy, as stated in the Saudi initiative.

Furthermore, sustainable peace must be built upon justice, fairness, addressing the effects of the past, and resolving the main outstanding issues of national dimension.

Moreover, any peace initiative or confidence-building measures must be capable of achieving tangible and immediate results to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and must benefit the victims of the conflict, foremost among them women and children.

Above all, the sustainability of peace and the non-repetition of rounds of war constitute the essence of the desired peace, which guarantees Yemenis the ability to build a state of institutions that protects rights and freedoms, ensures equality among its citizens, and establishes relations of good neighborliness and shared interests with our brethren in the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

But today I see that there is a more available and more assured path to achieving peace and embodying the theme of this session, through restoring Yemenis' trust in international legitimacy and in their own local government.

This requires supporting the legitimate Government and strengthening its capacity to build the economy and deliver services — a path that spares us all from dealing with the militias' extortion, from the obstruction of the implementation of international resolutions, and revives hope for the brighter, more promising tomorrow spoken of by UN envoys and mediators everywhere.

I also believe that the mission of our international system to protect global stability and peace, and to support the will of peoples and their recognized national governments, is today easier than ever before, given the ease of access to information and the ascertaining of facts. Yet giving interests greater weight than the will of peoples may squander further trust in this institution and in the international community as a whole.

I say this not to absolve ourselves of our national responsibilities, nor to make the international community a scapegoat for our shortcomings, but because we believe that the position of the major powers, and their firm message to the militias and the architects of coups against constitutional legitimacies — not only in Yemen but throughout the world — will make the path to peace clearer, by dispelling the dreams of armed groups and power-seekers and their illusions of establishing entities that contest the exclusive authorities of legitimate governments.

Mr. President,

Mr. Secretary-General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In order to restore trust and improve the prospects for progress on the Yemeni file, we must acknowledge that the current course of international humanitarian interventions needs to be reconsidered and fundamentally addressed, so as to be consistent with the principles of international law and the restrictions related to the financing of terrorism, insurgency, and armed groups.

While we welcome the United Nations' orientation toward transitioning relief interventions to the scope of sustainable development, this transformation must include channeling international pledges and funding through the recognized Central Bank of Yemen, in order to bolster the position of the national currency, curb inflation, and ensure that such funding does not fall under suspicion of indirectly supporting armed militias.

We must recognize the contradiction in this course of support with the international discourse that calls for an improvement in Yemen's economic indicators, while its international operations pass through institutions forcibly subjected to the domination of the Houthi militias, despite their arbitrary measures that violate the independence of the banking sector and the confidentiality of its transactions, turning this sector into a money-laundering network and plundering the savings of public and private institutions and the deposits of ordinary citizens.

Continuing along this path leaves the institutions of this member state of the United Nations with weak readiness, insufficient funding, and inadequate resources to deal with cross-border challenges and the growing humanitarian needs in the country.

Furthermore, these policies threaten to fuel the war economy and allow the flow of funds and pledges through banking channels devoid of accountability and effective oversight.

Moreover, the humanitarian aid provided by the Yemeni Government's interventions proves that supporting it in improving basic services would make the lives of millions of men, women, and children better, in addition to strengthening the prospects for peace by rallying people around their interests in development and prosperity, rather than slogans of violence, death, and hatred.

Mr. President,

Distinguished Delegates,

I said from this very podium last year that the longer the international community delayed, year after year, in taking a firm stance on the Yemeni file, the more devastating the losses would be, and the more dangerous the militias and terrorist groups would become in their cross-border threats, as well as in their appalling violations of human rights — the very rights around which our nations united under the umbrella of this institution for more than seventy years.

Indeed, this year we are witnessing an accelerating growth in the threat posed by al-Qaeda and ISIS, fueled by the Houthi militias and the Iranian regime with money, weapons, and intelligence support, sharing with them the same takfiri foundation.

When I addressed you a year ago from this podium, the state's general budget was achieving its best indicators since the outbreak of the war, launching promising programs to improve services and create job opportunities. But that momentum has since stalled, and continues to stall, due to Houthi terrorist attacks on oil facilities, which have brought the country to the brink of a comprehensive humanitarian crisis.

I find it fitting to say that had it not been for the generous support the Government received last month from our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — through a financial grant worth one billion two hundred million dollars in support of the state's general budget — the Government would have been unable to meet its basic obligations, including the inability to pay employee salaries.

We also acknowledge, in this context, the humanitarian and development funding and pledges from our brothers in the United Arab Emirates, our friends in the United States of America, the countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the rest of our regional and international partners.

Despite all these humanitarian interventions, I must note that the Houthi militias have recently escalated their threats to target shipping lanes in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and the Gulf of Aden, considering them military zones, and have threatened to test new weapons on Yemeni islands and target commercial vessels and oil tankers — confirming the continued efforts of these militias, and the Iranian regime behind them, to destabilize the security and stability of the region, undermine de-escalation efforts, and thwart endeavors to renew the truce and resume the political process.

Here, we reaffirm the importance of ensuring freedom of international navigation, combating extremism, terrorism, and piracy, and supporting measures aimed at preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction — foremost among them Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, and its destabilizing role in the region.

We also renew our call on the international community to condemn the flagrant Iranian interference in the affairs of our country, and its transformation of Yemen into a platform for cross-border threats, and to subject it to the sanctions mandated under the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy concerning the Yemeni file.

In this context, we call upon member states to adhere to the arms embargo regime and to confront the destabilizing Iranian influence in the region, and to prevent it from supplying its militias with military technologies such as ballistic missiles and drones, which are used to commit acts of terrorism against innocent civilians.

Mr. President,

Distinguished Delegates,

The Presidential Leadership Council and the Government affirm their strict commitment to all international agreements and treaties, including the protection of children and the prevention of their involvement in armed conflict.

They are also committed to providing the necessary guarantees for the work of international organizations and facilitating the delivery of their interventions to those entitled to them across all regions of Yemen.

To reinforce these efforts, the Government is working to empower the National Independent Commission to Investigate Alleged Human Rights Violations, and the relevant international and UN mechanisms, to carry out their tasks without restriction or condition.

This compels us to point out that all the understandings signed by UN agencies with the Houthi militias have yet to find their way to implementation, as the militias continue to recruit and mobilize children into combat camps in full view of the entire world.

We also witness daily the grave human rights violations committed by the Houthi militias, including restrictions on women's travel, work, and education, the repression and abduction of journalists, and the crushing of those who oppose their extremist ideology.

The militias and terrorist organizations also use media platforms and social media to brainwash our youth and incite against the interventions of relief agencies and workers, minorities, and foreign nationals.

The Houthi militias have issued hundreds of unjust rulings, confiscated the assets of their political opponents by armed force, and blown up their homes in one of the most heinous acts of vengeance in history.

They have also turned Yemeni territory into a minefield unprecedented since the Second World War, leaving behind thousands of victims, most of them women and children.

They have displaced millions of internally displaced persons and refugees across borders and continents, who have been welcomed by loyal brethren in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and other countries and states around the world.

In every instance, there is no understanding of the reasons behind the international community's disregard for these appalling violations of human dignity, which require a firm stance to hold perpetrators accountable and subject them to sanctions.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Republic of Yemen affirms its steadfast position on the Palestinian cause, and its support for advancing the peace process toward a just and comprehensive solution to the issue, based on the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, in a manner that guarantees the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state.

We also affirm our support for all efforts aimed at achieving peace in Sudan, foremost among them the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the United States, so as to restore security, stability, and development to this dear country.

Nor can I fail to express my full solidarity and heartfelt condolences to our brethren in Libya and the Kingdom of Morocco for the victims of the devastating hurricanes and earthquakes that struck these two sisterly countries, as the risks of climate change increasingly threaten our global system.

Thank you, and peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.