GENEVA -- Yemeni President Abd Rabou Mansour Hadi has decided to send one unified delegation to the Geneva consultations scheduled for the coming Monday, the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, announced Sunday.
The Special Envoy welcomed the Yemeni president's decision to send a delegation and encourages its members to participate in good faith and to seek outcomes that would lead to the alleviation of the tragic humanitarian situation in Yemen, and to put the country back on the path to a peaceful and orderly transition.
According to the UN special envoy, the consultations being organized under the auspices of the United Nations bring together related Yemeni political entities together, including the General Peoples' Congress (GPC) and its allies, Ansar Allah and its allies, JMP and its partners, and the Peaceful Southern Hirak.
"The United Nations takes this opportunity to appeal to Yemen's political actors to participate in these consultations in good faith and without pre-conditions, and in a climate of trust and mutual respect, in order to find ways to revive the political process and to reach a solution that will save Yemen and its people from the current crisis," the Special Envoy stated.
The UN-led Geneva Consultations on Yemen, or Yemen Consultations, will be scheduled to begin on Monday morning, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, which will be the first of its kind to involve the different sides of the Yemeni conflict since hostilities resumed, thus marking an important step as the parties embark on the road towards a settlement.
The consultations were previously scheduled to begin on Sunday, but due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the Yemeni delegations can't arrive in Geneva on time so the event was postponed to Monday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to arrived in Geneva on Sunday afternoon and meet with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Group of Sixteen Ambassador.
The UN Secretary-General and his Special Envoy for Yemen will then begin Consultations with the Yemen delegations on Monday morning.
"The UN hopes that the Consultations could create a new dynamic to build confidence between Yemeni actors and yield concrete benefits for the population, especially reduced violence and increased access to humanitarian aid and basic services," said Fawzi, Director of Information Service of UN at Geneva.
The members of the "Group of Sixteen" refers to the Ambassadors of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Egypt and Turkey, as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union.
Though there are 18 members but the Group still goes by the name Group of Sixteen (G16).
The UN chief is also expected to address the press at a stakeout on Monday morning, after the beginning of the Consultations.
Consultations between the Special Envoy for Yemen and the parties will then remain closed for the remainder of the process.
On April 25, the UN Secretary-General announced the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as his new Special Envoy for Yemen. Since his appointment, the Special Envoy has been engaging with related parties of the Yemen conflict.
Inclusive consultations among Yemeni governmental and other actors were due to start on May 28 in Geneva, nevertheless, on May26 the Secretary-General asked his Special Envoy to Yemen to postpone the consultations following a request from the government of Yemen and other key stakeholders. Enditem
