SECURITY COUNCIL: DESPITE CHALLENGES THAT CONTINUE OF ANTI-US, YEMEN’S POLITICAL TRANSITION ON HOLD, SAYS UN OFFICIAL

From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 11 Jun 2013 14:00:00 -0400
Subject: SECURITY COUNCIL: DESPITE CHALLENGES, YEMEN'S POLITICAL
TRANSITION ON COURSE, SAYS UN OFFICIAL
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

SECURITY COUNCIL: DESPITE CHALLENGES, YEMEN'S POLITICAL TRANSITION ON
COURSE, SAYS UN OFFICIALNew York, Jun 11 2013 2:00PMWith the second
round of the Yemen's national dialogue under way, the political
transition in the country is largely on course, a senior United
Nations official told the Security Council today, urging continued
cooperation and coordination among political parties, the Government
and the donor community.

"Yemen is in the heart of its transition," Special Adviser Jamal
Benomar told the 15-member Council, presenting Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon's latest report. "In a country awash with arms and a history
of conflict, such an inclusive process of dialogue is a great
achievement."

The second round of the UN-backed National Dialogue Conference
includes 565 delegates representing a cross-section of Yemeni society.

Just back from the capital, Sana'a, Mr. Benomar said "the 'dialogue'
is extending well beyond the Conference" with men and women engaged in
discussions and debates about the problems of their country and its
possible future in seminars, roundtables and open tents in town
squares.

"As President [Abdrabuh Mansour] Hadi has remarked, we are engaged in
more than a political transition; we are witnessing a transformation
of the political culture," Mr. Benomar noted.

The ongoing conference will feed into a constitution-making process
and pave the way for general elections in 2014. Preparations for the
electoral process are underway, including steps to create a new
biometric voter registry, with registration due to begin in September.

The UN has been providing support in Yemen's transition in four key
areas: political facilitation; technical support; capacity-building;
and a public information and awareness campaign.

"We understand that there are no guarantees of what lies ahead," Mr.
Benomar told the Council. "It is an undertaking of great hope in a
fragile environment, where a range of perspectives and diverse
interested are seeking to realize a new and better order."

He noted that to develop a new constitution, the National Dialogue
will need to find a consensual settlement to the 'Southern question'
linked to southern separatists.

"In the South, the streets are heating up," Mr. Benomar said, adding
that "pent-up resentment at more than two decades of unaddressed
grievances and systematic marginalization."

Since February, there was been a "significant increase" in the
frequency and number of demonstrators, some resulting in injuries and
deaths.

Two Commissions have been established to address the unlawful or
illegitimate seizure of property and unjust dismissal from military
and civil service, but without additional resources for the
Commissions and further confidence-building measures by the Government
or tangible improvements in people's daily lives, "the voices of
discontent will amplify, narrowing the space for dialogue," he said.

The Special Advisor reiterated to the Council that the only peaceful
route to progress is through open dialogue and, importantly,
addressing the legacy of the past. He urged Yemeni authorities to
establish a Commission of Inquiry into the events of 2011 and to adopt
a law on transitional justice.

He also noted the steps taken by President Hadi to restructure the
country's armed forces, a move welcomed in April by Mr. Ban and the
Security Council, but stressed that "much more remains to be done to
ensure the professionalization" of the forces.

Highlighting other challenges to the country, Mr. Benomar noted that
despite all efforts to counter it, Al Qaida remains a lethal threat in
the Arabian Peninsula.

In addition, the UN official made reference to "those who wish to
undermine the transition," citing sabotage attacks on the country's
energy exports and its electricity lines, costing the country hundreds
of millions of dollars.

"Those responsible for these crimes must be brought to account," Mr.
Benomar stressed.

He also cited a partisan war through "misinformation, fabrication and
incitement" of the media for political means, and an increase in the
assassination of mid and high level security officials and the
apparent amassing of weapons among political factions.

"Arms smuggling into Yemen continues," he said, noting that several
shipments have recently been seized.

Also, the humanitarian crisis in the country "continues unabated,"
with more than half of the population in need of humanitarian
assistance to access food, healthcare, safe water and sanitation, and
more than one million children suffering from acute malnutrition, Mr.
Benomar said.

Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) today said that more than 90 per cent of the internally
displaced people from Abyan, southern Yemen, have returned home.

The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) dropped from 68,533
last December to 6,133 in April, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told
journalists in Geneva.

"The fighting was subsiding, the overall situation looked better and
there was an ongoing political process," Mr. Laerke said.

He added that the resumption of some basic services and reopening of
markets had encouraged some people to return, but shelter and
agricultural livelihoods remain a concern. As some 80 per cent of the
population in the south were farmers, it was critical to assist them
in restarting their production.

In addition, the prospects for Yemenis in the north to return to their
homes "remains distant," Mr. Benomar said.

The international humanitarian community has sought $716 million for
the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan to provide emergency and early
recovery assistance to 7.7 million of the country's most vulnerable.
However, the plan is so far only 31 per cent funded. The early
recovery sector was only 8.3 per cent funded of the $31.5 million
needed.

In May, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Ismail
Ould Cheikh Ahmed, had said the country was that a crossroads that
could either lead to increased stability or plunge the country back
into conflict.

"There will be no political transition if we don't deal with the
humanitarian situation," Mr. Ahmed told a news conference in Geneva in
such location as Geneva a Logistic Contract for The United Nations
still not accepted in member states except Colombia - does cause The
United States to Hold any further moves by Yemen.Jun 11 2013 2:00PM
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