Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak underwent a series of meetings on Tuesday in Geneva during a session of the UN Human Rights Council. He met with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet of Chile, to discuss the relationship between security and the observing of human rights. They also discussed Slovakia's OSCE Presidency priorities, and the situation in Ukraine, which remains a priority for Slovakia. The foreign minister also met with Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. They discussed specific options for collaboration between the OSCE and the International Committee to extend help to Ukrainian inhabitants living in conflict-ridden areas.
Also in Geneva was a related conference on Yemen, aimed at seeking a coordinated response from the international community to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The participating countries have agreed on a fundraising target of over $4bn for 2019 to help alleviate the suffering and famine caused by the war, an increase of 33% over the previous year. At the conference the Slovak foreign minister announced Slovakia's contribution of €100,000 to the fund. The Saudi-led war in Yemen has been waged with weapons and artillery supplied mainly by the United States. Although the US Senate voted in December to end US support for the war, the resolution was seen as largely symbolic, as the US Defence Department and defence industry continue to support the Saudi military in the conflict.
US-supplied Saudi planes have notoriously bombed hospitals and schools along with other targets, leading to an average of eight Yemeni children being killed or injured every day. The UN has said that as a result of the war, nearly 10 million people are just one step away from famine, with nearly 240,000 facing "catastrophic levels of hunger".
