On the line of the international effort to building peace, on June 30 (h.10.00-12.00 CEST), the Embassy of Yemen Republic in Italy propose the Virtual Symposium with the following program: Opening and welcoming remarks by Moderator; Interventions by civil society representatives from Taiz; Open discussion.
A number of civil society representatives from the city of Taiz will participate in this event, which will be moderated by journalist Talal Khrais, correspondent for NNA Agency of Lebanon and responsible for international politics of Italy-Arab Association Assadakah. The Symposium will be held in English and Arabic.
After more than seven years since the Houthi militia’ coup against the State and state institutions of Yemen, and against the democratic process of the National Dialogue Conference, Yemenis all over the country continue struggling to live amidst such suffering and agony resulted out of violations and atrocities perpetrated by the Houthis of which the siege on the city of Taiz is a vivid example.
The recent exerted efforts led by Hans Grundberg, United Nations special envoy (UNSP) to Yemen to renew the truce for another two months is supposed to “deliver on easing the suffering of the people of Taiz”, as he stated. Yet, the Houthis’ intransigence to respond to the proposal of lifting the siege in Taiz continue which was clearly indicated by the UNSP to Yemen in his recent briefing to the UNSC in which he declared how encouraged he was by the positive response by the government of Yemen to the UN proposal to this regard; UNSP is still waiting for a response fron the Houthis. It is cause for concern how the people of Taiz under the siege can persist to be resilient and carry the burden of the suffering, while it remains clear that the Houthis continue to solely view any alleviating of the suffering of the people from a politica gain perspective.
What was the real situation in the besieged Taiz? What are the repercussions of the Houthis siege on Taiz? How can lifting the siege contribute to building peace? What’s the role of the civil society actors to this end?