New sworn in Yemeni gov't vows to end years of fighting

New Yemeni government sworn in, in power-sharing agreement with separatists vowing to support government efforts to restore peace in what is dubbed as the world's forgotten war.

President Hadi called on the new government to prioritise addressing the impoverished country's economic woes [File: Yemeni Presidency/AFP]

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has been in hiding in Saudi Arabia since being thrown out of office in 2015 by Houthi rebel forces, was sworn in during a broadcasted ceremony on Saturday evening in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

According to a power-sharing agreement the Saudi's brokered, in November 2019, between the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a UAE-backed separatist group that formed in 2017, and Yemen's internationally recognized government, Hadi will include the group's members into his 24-man cabinet.

In exchange, the STC has vowed to cease efforts to secede from the country and instead join Hadi's loyalist forces in the ongoing fight against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

“You are coming from different blocs and geographical areas, but let your main concern be first and foremost the country and its citizens,” Hadi told the members of the government.

“We are in a new stage and depend on you to act as one team.”

Yemen has been ravaged by war since the rebellion began in late 2014.

Fighting and constant blockade of humanitarian aid has driven 80% of Yemen's 30 million population into a state of food insecurity, according to the UN.

About 13.5 million Yemenis face acute food insecurity and the country is already categorized as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, as malnutrition, famine, and war batters the struggling nation.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) already predicts that Yemen, for the third consecutive year, will be most at risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in 2021. By: Niza Nondo