NY City: After 10 days of talks in Geneva, the Yemeni government and the Houthis decided to release 887 prisoners, according to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

They added that the parties had also agreed to meet again in May to talk about additional prisoner swaps, visit each other's detention facilities, and grant delegations complete access to all detainees during those visits.

The agreement, according to Hans Grundberg, the UN's special envoy for Yemen, gives more reason to believe that the conflict that has ravaged the nation for more than eight years and resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises is finally coming to an end.

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Today is a good day for hundreds of Yemeni families, according to Grundberg. Yemen unfortunately doesn't get as many happy days as it should. I want to sincerely thank everyone who was involved in making this happen. Hundreds of Yemeni families can now look forward to seeing one another again.

But it's crucial to keep in mind that when the parties signed the Detainees' Exchange Agreement, they made a promise to thousands of Yemeni families who have been suffering from the agony of being separated from their loved ones for far too long.

Grundberg continued, "I sense there is now a willingness to engage," referring to the March 10 announcement of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

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In a statement made last week at a UN Security Council meeting, Grundberg hailed the Saudi Arabia-Iran agreement and noted that the region was currently experiencing a "step change in the scope and depth" of negotiations to put an end to the protracted conflict in Yemen.

Meanwhile, he exhorted all parties to the conflict to take advantage of this "renewed regional diplomatic momentum" and move "decisively towards a more peaceful future."

He stated on Monday that "if Yemen is to recover from the devastating toll the eight-year conflict has had on its men and women, a comprehensive and sustainable end to the conflict is necessary."

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The Houthis have agreed to release 181 prisoners, including 15 Saudis and three Sudanese citizens, in exchange for the release of 706 prisoners held by the Yemeni government, according to a message shared on Twitter by the head of the militia's prisoner affairs committee and Abdul Qader Al-Murtada. They added that the exchange would happen in three weeks.