UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura attended a meeting with representatives of Iran, Russia, and Turkey in Geneva Tuesday.
In a press statement on behalf of the De Mistura, spokesperson of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric said the UN envoy had discussed with the three guarantors important follow-up to the Sochi Final Statement and the further advancement of the Geneva political process towards the full implementation of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).
In light of Security Council resolution 2401 (2018), discussions also emphasised the situation on the ground and the immediate priority of de-escalation, also in view of the forthcoming Astana meeting. Discussions also addressed the file of detainees, abductees and missing persons, added the statement.
In his daily briefing, Dujarric touched upon the situation in Yemen.
He pointed out that hostilities continued in Yemen's southern Hodeidah Governorate, about 100 kilometres south of Hodeidah port.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that about 77,000 people have been newly displaced in Hodeidah and neighbouring Taiz since December 2017, he said.
He added that as of late February, humanitarian partners had reached about 54,000 people with emergency assistance and response efforts are continuing. Over 2 million people remain displaced across the country due to the conflict, 90 per cent of whom fled their homes more than a year ago.
On Iraq, Dujarric stated that humanitarian partners together with authorities in Iraq on Tuesday launched the 2018 humanitarian response plan, which is seeking USD 569 million to assist 3.4 million highly vulnerable people still struggling in the aftermath of the conflict with the so-called Islamic State group.
