Mohamed Ameen Dabhelia – 2016/03/29

A special UN envoy have announced a cease-fire across Yemen on April 10th followed a week later by fresh peace talks, raising hopes for a breakthrough.

Yemen has been gripped by violence since September 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels stormed the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally recognized government out.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed says the parties to the conflict have agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities beginning April 10 at midnight.

A Saudi-led coalition began an air war in March last year to push back an offensive by Iran-backed Houthi rebel, who controls the San’aa region.

Chikh Ahmed says the aim is to reach an agreement which will end the conflict and allow the resumption of an inclusive political dialogue.

The face-to-face negotiations are in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which states that the rebels must withdraw from seized territories and disarm.

The envoy says they hoped the cessation of hostilities would allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access to millions of suffering Yemenis.

Before their meeting, Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Ahmed met with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who said his government was ready to oversee a transition that would bring peace to the country.

Ahmed has meanwhile traveled to San’aa for reconciliation talks.

Yemen Conflict Takes Devastating Toll On Children

UNICEF warns some 320,000 children risk severe malnutrition as 82 percent of population requires humanitarian aid.

According to UNICEF, the year-old conflict in Yemen is taking a horrifying toll on the country’s youth; they have warned that an estimated 320,000 children are faced with life-threatening malnutrition.

In a new report marking the anniversary of the start of the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, the agency says six children have been killed or injured daily over the past year – up nearly seven times compared to 2014.

The intervention of the Arab coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia in support of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi began on March 26 last year, but has yet to deal a decisive blow to Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies, who still control the capital Sanaa and key parts of the country.

Hopes for a breakthrough in the conflict emerged last week when the warring sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities from April 10 and peace talks from April 18, after a year of war that has killed overall more than 6,200 people.

The UNICEF report, titled “Childhood on the Brink“, says nearly a third of the more than 3,000 civilians killed in Yemen’s war have been children.

— With input from agencies

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