Yemen joins UK initiative on preventing sexual violence in conflict

Yemen has joined the initiative on preventing sexual violence in conflict that was launched by the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, in May 2012. Yemen was among 113 states to endorse the new Declaration of Commitment to end Sexual Violence in Conflict at an event in New York on Tuesday attended by Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdullah al-Qerbi. The event was also attended by Yemen's permanent representative to the United Nations Jamal Abdullah al-Sallal. The Declaration contains a set of practical and political commitments to end the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war, which terrorises and destroys communities during conflict. It sends an important message to the victims of these crimes that the international community has not forgotten them, and to the perpetrators of rape that they will be held to account.