To:

President Republic of Yemen Mr. Abdrabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi

Leader of Ansar Allah Mr. Abdul-Malik Badreddin Al-Houthi
His Highness Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari

His Highness Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen Mr. Martin Griffiths

Ambassador Republic of Yemen for the Netherlands Ms. Sahar Ghanem

Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Yemen Mr. Peter-Derrek Hof

U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Mr. Timothy A. Lenderking

U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands Chargé d’Affaires Marja Verloop

Bussum, the Netherlands, May 10th, 2021

Open letter

Subject: Let All Children Play in Yemen, the Need for Peace

Your Excellencies,

Approximately two years ago we wrote many of you a letter in which we mentioned that as citizens, our hearts cry for all the people in the world suffering from violence, starvation and illness due to war. This applies especially for the children in Yemen. The situation is still tragic.

According to UNICEF, more than 24 million people – some 80 per cent of the population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than 12 million children. Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment.

As adults, it is our responsibility to create a world in which all children can play. We urge you to do whatever you can to create a peaceful Yemen.

We kindly ask you to:

• Respect life and encourage all parties to respect life
• Help to stop the fighting of all parties in the whole of Yemen – also the attack on Ma’rib must be halted
• Let humanitarian aid pass through
• Work together with the United Nations towards a national peace agreement for Yemen
• Help to release all child soldiers from their ranks
• Include Yemeni women and NGOs in the peace negotiations
• Do everything you can to prevent an environmental disaster due to the bad state of repair of the Al-Safer oil tanker, which is located close to Hodeidah port. App. 200 million liters of oil can leak into the Red Sea.

If we can help you and contribute to peace via peaceful means in Yemen, please let us know. We hope to see All the Children in Yemen Play Soon.

Kind regards,

Chris Geerse, Peace movement Pais, Netherlands

Chale Guadamuz, director of Hague Peace Projects, Netherlands

Tiny Hannink, Women for Peace Enschede, Netherlands

Wim Koetsier, Universal Peace Federation Netherlands

May-May Meijer, Peace SOS, Netherlands

Joke Oranje, peace activist for women, Netherlands

Jeffrey Quarsie, NVMP Artsen voor Vrede (NVMP Doctors for Peace)

Rita Salaris-Lichtenberg, Women’s Federation for World Peace, Netherlands

Anna Zanen, Women for Sustainable Peace (an umbrella organization)

David Swanson, Executive Director, World BEYOND War

Peter Spreij, clerk of Quakers in the Netherlands (Religious Society of Friends)

Isaac Evans-Frantz, director of Action Corps (United States)

Please address your correspondence via e-mail to: May-May Meijer, E: info@peacesos.nl