Foreign Policy: The United Nations relieves Griffiths of his mission in Yemen
English - Wednesday 12 May 2021 الساعة 01:17 pm
NewsYemen, Special translation:
The US magazine Foreign Policy and Reuters said that the United Nations plans early on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, to announce the appointment of Martin Griffiths, the current UN special envoy to Yemen, to the position of Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator to succeed Mark Lowcock.
According to UN sources for Foreign Policy magazine, Griffiths' current position will be vacant in one of the most well-known diplomatic posts in the United Nations.
The decision comes just weeks after Britain announced sharp cuts in foreign aid, raising questions about whether Britain still deserves the leadership of the United Nations' humanitarian relief agency.
Griffiths, who was appointed as a special envoy to Yemen in February 2018, has struggled to end the six-year war.
In recent months, Griffiths has shown an interest in taking on a new assignment, according to UN officials. Griffiths’s position was undermined by the Houthis ’refusal to meet him, and his role diminished when the Biden administration, which has its own envoy to Yemen - Tim Lenderking - decided to take a more active role in trying to negotiate an end to the war.
In a recent statement, Griffiths expressed his growing frustration with efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, citing the year-long Houthi attack on the city of Marib.
But the latest round of talks failed to persuade the warring powers - backed by regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran - to cease fire, three sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters, including a US official.
