Activities of Secretary-General in Sweden, 12-13 December

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Stockholm, Sweden, late on Wednesday evening, 12 December, from Katowice, Poland.

He would attend the last day of the intra-Yemeni political consultations convened by his Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths.

In Rimbo, a city a few kilometers away from the capital, the Secretary-General met with the two delegations attending the talks.  Discussions went well into the night.

On Thursday morning, 13 December, the Secretary-General met again with the parties before attending the closing session of the intra-Yemeni consultations.  There, the Secretary-General announced that an agreement had been reached on Hodeidah port and city.  He also said that the parties had reached a mutual understanding to ease the situation in Taizz, which he hoped would lead to the opening of humanitarian corridors and the facilitation of demining.  The parties also agreed to engage in the discussions on a Negotiating Framework in the next meeting and agreed to meet again at the end of January for the next round of consultations.  (See Press Release SG/SM/19405.)

The Secretary-General then spoke at a joint press conference with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström and his Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.  He said that this was “the beginning of the end of one of the biggest tragedies of the twenty‑first century ‑ the conflict in Yemen, the worst humanitarian situation that we face”.  He also paid tribute to the courage and determination of the two delegations that were able to overcome many difficulties to start a serious process to build a common future.

The Secretary-General left Sweden that evening to return to Katowice, Poland, for the end of the twenty-fourth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.