This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Broker a ceasefire for all sides in Yemen to carry out humanitarian aid
As Yemenis who are privileged to be British citizens, we want our Government to put pressure on all military groups in Yemen, including the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition forces, to halt attacks on Yemen; to allow humanitarian aid to be carried out. We want all groups to put down their weapons.
More details
This devastating war has took a huge toll on Yemen. It's upsetting to witness such crimes being carried out in our homeland. Over 24 million Yemenis require urgent humanitarian assistance. This conflict has resulted in economic collapse. 10 million Yemenis are on the verge of famine and more than 17 million are without adequate access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. Yemen is on the verge of extinction now that there's been an outbreak of COVID19. Yemen needs our help to end its suffering
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
The Petitions Committee decided not to debate this petition
The Petitions Committee agreed not to schedule a debate on this petition, because MPs debated the situation in Yemen on Thursday 24 September in the main House of Commons Chamber. The petition was tagged to this debate so that MPs taking part in the debate were aware of it.
Government responded
This response was given on 6 August 2020
The UK Government shares your concern at the appalling situation in Yemen. We are doing everything we can to find a sustainable political solution to the conflict and end the humanitarian crisis.
Read the response in full
The UK is deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. We fully support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who is leading on the peace process, and we work closely with the UN and international partners to support this vital work. We engage with all sides to the conflict and urge them to work constructively with the Special Envoy and agree to his proposals. In particular, in our engagements with the Houthis we are clear that close co-operation with the UN is the best means of achieving a peaceful and sustainable resolution to the Yemen conflict. The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to reach a political settlement to the conflict, which is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis. We have also used our role as penholder at the UN Security Council to help push the peace process forward. We welcome the Saudi-brokered talks to revive the Riyadh Agreement between the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Yemeni Government, which we hope will end the fighting in the South that threatened to derail the peace process. The UK often speaks to senior members of the Government and the STC to support implementation of the agreement.
We wholeheartedly agree that Yemen needs our help. To help Yemeni people in dire need, the Government has committed almost £1 billion in UK Aid since the conflict began in 2015. This financial year we pledged £160 million in funding. We expect that this will provide support to at least 300,000 vulnerable people each month to help them buy food and household essentials, treat 40,000 children for malnutrition and provide 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation. Our pledge will also help the UN to tackle the spread of COVID-19 and we expect our support to provide over 700,000 medical consultations for a range of health conditions, train 1,500 healthcare workers to work safely in a COVID-19 environment and provide a much-needed boost to nearly 600 health centres, so that they can continue to provide existing health services.
Yemen is a high priority for the UK Government, and we will continue to expend every effort to bring an end to the suffering of the Yemeni people.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Related activity
MPs to debate the situation in Yemen in the House of Commons
MPs will debate the situation in Yemen this Thursday 24 September in the main House of Commons Chamber. The subject of the debate has been determined by the Backbench Business Committee.
This will be a general debate. General debates allow MPs to debate important issues, however they do not end in a vote nor can they change the law.
The debate will start sometime after 11am, following the conclusion of Business Questions to the Leader of the House.
Watch here this Thursday: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/f63a02f0-0018-4a77-b8d4-037dc41e3558
Find out more about how Parliamentary debates work: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/debates/
Find out more about the Backbench Business Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/202/backbench-business-committee/
Because of Thursday’s general debate, the Petitions Committee has agreed not to schedule a separate debate on this petition, but the petition has been tagged to this debate so that MPs taking part in the debate will be aware of it.