The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen signed Monday in Riyadh a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations to strengthen the protection of children affected by the armed conflict in Yemen.
Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, who signed the memorandum on behalf of the UN, condemned Houthis for being involved in grave violations against children and for doing nothing to protect them.
She said the annual report issued by her office to the UN Security Council contains important figures over the past years, where no action to protect children has been taken, stressing that due to their grave violations, including murder and child-recruitment, Houthis were put on list A of the report.
Gamba affirmed that this MoU is the first of its kind around the world.
“Now, we seek to exert great efforts over the next two months. We will jointly establish limited activities over a long term, including a joint training and spreading knowledge about the child protection,” she said.
The UN official added she is convinced that the coalition led by Saudi Arabia will play a significant role in serving the great purpose of keeping children away from the armed conflict.
Prince Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Turki Bin Abdulaziz affirmed his hopes of close cooperation in regards to this memorandum with the United Nations, especially that it serves a “noble cause” that “we should always aim to implement and improve.”
For his part, the permanent representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdallah AlMoullimi, who attended the ceremony, said that his country is working on bringing attention on the Houthi violations and to uncover Iran’s interferences in Yemen.
Meanwhile, officials from the legitimate government in Yemen praised Operations Determination Storm and Renewal of Hope, kicked off by Saudi Arabia four years ago to support Yemenis against the Houthi coup.
Yemen's Vice President Ali Mohsen Saleh said the Decisive Storm was a historical Arab decision that won over the Houthi Iranian sectarian agenda.
He made the remarks in a statement to Saba referring to the military operation launched by Saudi-led Arab Coalition against the rebel militia in March 2015.
Meanwhile in Aden, Prime Minister Ma'een Abdulmalik met Monday with head of the European Union's Delegation in Yemen Antonia Calvo and discussed the political, economic and security developments in Yemen.
Abdulmalik stressed the necessity of implementing the UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement and forcing Houthi militia to withdraw from the city of Hodeidah and its ports soon as stipulated by the redeployment plan.
He also called on the International Community to exert more pressure on Houthis who failed to show seriousness on implementing the agreement after passing more than 100 days on declaring it.
