Broker a ceasefire for all sides in Yemen to carry out humanitarian aid
This petition gathered 211,848 signatures between 16 July 2020 and 16 January 2021, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 6 August 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Broker a ceasefire for all sides in Yemen to carry out humanitarian aid
As Yemenis who are privileged to be British citizens, we want our Government to put pressure on all military groups in Yemen, including the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition forces, to halt attacks on Yemen; to allow humanitarian aid to be carried out. We want all groups to put down their weapons.
This devastating war has took a huge toll on Yemen. It's upsetting to witness such crimes being carried out in our homeland. Over 24 million Yemenis require urgent humanitarian assistance. This conflict has resulted in economic collapse. 10 million Yemenis are on the verge of famine and more than 17 million are without adequate access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. Yemen is on the verge of extinction now that there's been an outbreak of COVID19. Yemen needs our help to end its suffering
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 6 August 2020; the petitions site lists the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office as responsible. Its summary:
The UK Government shares your concern at the appalling situation in Yemen. We are doing everything we can to find a sustainable political solution to the conflict and end the humanitarian crisis.
The response in full:
The UK is deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. We fully support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who is leading on the peace process, and we work closely with the UN and international partners to support this vital work. We engage with all sides to the conflict and urge them to work constructively with the Special Envoy and agree to his proposals. In particular, in our engagements with the Houthis we are clear that close co-operation with the UN is the best means of achieving a peaceful and sustainable resolution to the Yemen conflict. The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to reach a political settlement to the conflict, which is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis. We have also used our role as penholder at the UN Security Council to help push the peace process forward. We welcome the Saudi-brokered talks to revive the Riyadh Agreement between the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Yemeni Government, which we hope will end the fighting in the South that threatened to derail the peace process. The UK often speaks to senior members of the Government and the STC to support implementation of the agreement.
We wholeheartedly agree that Yemen needs our help. To help Yemeni people in dire need, the Government has committed almost £1 billion in UK Aid since the conflict began in 2015. This financial year we pledged £160 million in funding. We expect that this will provide support to at least 300,000 vulnerable people each month to help them buy food and household essentials, treat 40,000 children for malnutrition and provide 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation. Our pledge will also help the UN to tackle the spread of COVID-19 and we expect our support to provide over 700,000 medical consultations for a range of health conditions, train 1,500 healthcare workers to work safely in a COVID-19 environment and provide a much-needed boost to nearly 600 health centres, so that they can continue to provide existing health services.
Yemen is a high priority for the UK Government, and we will continue to expend every effort to bring an end to the suffering of the Yemeni people.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 1,918, came from Birmingham, Hall Green.
209,517 of the signatures were from the UK and 2,331 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Birmingham, Hall Green | 1,918 |
| Birmingham, Hodge Hill | 1,744 |
| East Ham | 1,636 |
| Bethnal Green and Bow | 1,503 |
| Poplar and Limehouse | 1,454 |
| Ilford South | 1,438 |
| Bradford West | 1,380 |
| Birmingham, Ladywood | 1,350 |
| West Ham | 1,334 |
| Cities of London and Westminster | 1,323 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 49,917 |
| South East | 32,305 |
| North West | 21,292 |
| West Midlands | 21,076 |
| East of England | 17,793 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 15,820 |
| South West | 15,442 |
| East Midlands | 11,773 |
| Scotland | 6,616 |
| Wales | 5,341 |
| North East | 5,037 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,656 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on .
The Petitions Committee's summary of the debate:
The Petitions Committee agreed not to schedule a debate on this petition, because MPs debated the situation in Yemen on Thursday 24 September in the main House of Commons Chamber. The petition was tagged to this debate so that MPs taking part in the debate were aware of it.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/326932.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
f5e0861311f3b027… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.