(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The UN's Geneva office spokesman has hailed a "golden opportunity" for peace in Yemen after both sides arrived in Geneva to seek a solution to the crisis.
Ahmed Fevzi spoke to press members on Tuesday after the arrival of the Houthi delegation.
"Houthis want to attend to the talks with a larger delegation," Fevzi said. "But the UN's peace envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, will meet with Houthis today to say that they should attend the talks with a delegation consisting of seven members and three advisors, as it was agreed before."
UN-sponsored Yemen talks kicked off Monday in Geneva. Houthi representatives missed the first day of talks because their plane did not get clearance to take off. The plane was obliged to wait for 24 hours in Djibouti as the Egyptian administration did not allow it to use its airspace. They arrived in Geneva on Tuesday after a delay in Djibouti.
Meanwhile, UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said the humanitarian crisis in Yemen was getting worse by the day.
He said millions of children were affected, and the children death toll has increased four times in the past 10 weeks compared to the last year, with 279 children killed and 400 wounded in Yemen since March 26.
He added that number of children who are used as fighters by armed groups increased twofold compared to the last year.
On Monday, UN secretary general called for a humanitarian cease-fire of at least two weeks in Yemen before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The remarks of Ban Ki-moon came during a press conference after the Yemen talks at the UN office in Geneva on Monday.
"Yemen's very existence hangs in the balance. While parties bicker, Yemen burns," Ban said, adding: "We don't have a minute to lose. The ticking clock is not a timepiece, it's a ticking bomb."
The Yemen talks in Geneva are expected to last three days unless extended, which is a possibility.
Nearly 20 million Yemenis are now in need of humanitarian assistance, which is 78 percent of the entire Yemeni population, the UN says.
The number of people who need humanitarian assistance in the country increased by 4 million with the Saudi intervention in March 2015, it says.
Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when Houthi militants overran Sana'a from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.
On March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive air campaign targeting Houthi positions across the country.
Riyadh says its campaign comes in response to appeals by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi - who is in Saudi Arabia - for military intervention against Houthi militants.
The Houthis, however, denounce the offensive as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" against Yemen.
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