Pause in fighting will go into effect on Friday night, days after UN declared Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The United Nations has announced that a humanitarian truce will go into force in Yemen to allow urgently needed aid to reach civilians facing the threat of famine in the war-torn country.



The pause in fighting will go into effect at 23.59 local time (2059 GMT) on Friday and last until the end of Ramadan on 17 July.

The announcement came eight days after the UN declared Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency, the highest on its scale, with nearly half of the country’s regions facing a food crisis.

“It is imperative and urgent that humanitarian aid can reach all vulnerable people of Yemen unimpeded and through an unconditional humanitarian pause,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on Thursday.

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The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has received assurances from the Shia Houthi rebels and other parties that “the pause will be fully respected and that there will be no violations from any combatants under their control”, he added.

More than 21.1 million people – over 80% of Yemen’s population – are in need of aid, with 13 million facing food shortages. Access to water has become difficult for 9.4 million people, according to the UN.

Ban had repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow much-needed aid to be delivered to civilians suffering due to the air war and rebel offensives.

Yemen slid deeper into turmoil when a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes in late March to stop an advance by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who drove the president into exile.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are demanding that the Houthis pull back from territory seized in their offensive and that the president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, be restored to power.