Politics
A little less conversation
The UN is brokering peace talks between Houthi rebels and Yemen’s government but the sides must turn words into actions.
Though it is laudable that the combatants in Yemen’s civil war are attempting to set aside their differences at UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden, there remain doubts about whether the warring parties are doing enough to end what has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Yemen’s government, which is propped up by Saudi Arabia, should be commended for agreeing a ceasefire in the port city of Al-Hudaydah but that truce needs to be extended to the rest of the country. Journalist Iona Craig – who has lived and worked in Yemen – told The Briefing on Monocle 24 that, “Unless there is a peace deal – a political deal – then it’s really not going to end the problems for the many millions of Yeminis that are currently starving.”