The UN Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has called on the UN Security Council to establish a “robust monitoring regime” to ensure a ceasefire at the key Yemeni port of Hodaydah.

He told the 15-member Council that not only it is essential for the mechanism to be set up at Hodaydah, “it is also urgently needed.”

“At the instruction of the Secretary-General relevant departments in New York and elsewhere are already active on the planning for urgent deployment subject to the decisions of this Council,” he said.

Griffiths said retired Dutch Major General Patrick Cammaert had agreed to lead the monitoring component of the agreement, which took effect on Thursday when the deal was published. He said Cammaert could arrive in the region within days.

Being present in the field soon is an essential part of the confidence that needs to go with the implementation of this agreement, Griffiths said.

The council was already discussing a British-drafted resolution to enshrine five requests made by UN aid chief Mark Lowcock – one of which was for a truce around facilities needed for aid and commercial imports – and diplomats said that would now be reworked to endorse the agreement reached in Sweden.

We hope to be able to work expeditiously with colleagues to bring about a Security Council resolution which will give the firmest possible support to what has been achieved so far, British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council.

As requested we will of course want – with colleagues – to address the monitoring requirements, she said. The conflict has pushed Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, to the verge of famine, and millions of people rely on food aid. More than 80 percent of Yemen’s imports used to come through Hodaydah port, but that has slowed to a trickle.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned that the Security Council would be watching: We must be ready to act if one or more of the parties fails to follow through. The UN will take on a leading role in supporting Yemen Red Sea Ports Corporation in management and inspections at Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa, Griffiths said. The UN … has developed a plan seeking specific support from member states in the port.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the internationally-recognized government agreed on the ceasefire on Thursday amid ongoing peace talks to end Yemen’s devastating conflict.

The UN-brokered talks had begun in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on Dec. 6 in an effort to end the 4-year military conflict in Yemen.

AFP.