United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has instructed UN agencies, funds and programs to suspend all activities in Yemen's Houthi-controlled Saada governorate for security reasons, his spokesperson said on Monday. The measure follows the recent detention by Houthi rebels of eight more United Nations staff members, including six working in the governorate.
Saada governorate lies about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of the capital, Sanaa, in the northwest of the country and borders Saudi Arabia. The UN said Monday that the new detentions have impacted its ability to operate.
Before the latest detentions, dozens of men and women from the UN, international organizations and diplomatic missions were still being held by the Houthis - also known as the Ansar Allah movement - in unknown locations. At least 17 United Nations staff members were among those detained.
“This extraordinary and temporary measure seeks to balance the imperative to stay and deliver with the need to have the safety and security of the UN personnel and its partners guaranteed,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for Guterres.
“Such guarantees are ultimately required to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of our efforts.”
According to UN officials, the arbitrary detention of humanitarian workers and false charges brought against them by the de facto Houthi authorities continue to severely hamper international efforts to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance in Yemen.
“This pause is to give time to the de facto authorities and the United Nations to arrange the release of arbitrarily detained UN personnel and ensure that the necessary conditions are in place to deliver critical humanitarian support guided by the principles of impartiality, neutrality, independence and humanity.”
Haq added that the United Nations remained fully committed to assisting the millions of people in need across Yemen.
More than half of the country's population - 19.5 million people - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection this year, with Yemen's most vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women and girls, at greatest risk.
In January, the UN and humanitarian agencies launched the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for Yemen, calling for US$2.47 billion to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to 10.5 million of the most vulnerable people in need.
While international attention has been diverted to other global emergencies, Yemen remains one of the world's most severe and protracted humanitarian crises after nearly a decade of war.
The Houthis control large parts of Yemen after seizing the capital and ousting the internationally recognized government in September 2014. The conflict between a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf states and the ousted Yemeni government against the Ansar Allah movement escalated in 2015, when Saudi Arabia began airstrikes against Houthi and Houthi-affiliated forces.
More than two and a half years ago, a six-month ceasefire was announced between Yemen's warring parties. While the UN-brokered ceasefire has not been renewed, there has been a tenuous continuation of truce-like conditions. As a result, the level of violence has decreased and progress has been made in political negotiations.
While the reduction in armed conflict in the country since April 2022 has led to a reduction in civilian casualties and suffering among the population, the situation remains precarious without a lasting political solution in Yemen and a lasting resolution to the Gaza war.
Ten years of crisis have had a profound impact on Yemeni communities, who continue to bear the brunt of the conflict. Over the past year, the humanitarian situation has remained dire or worsened in large parts of the country, with 1.3 million more women, children and men in need of aid than in the previous year.
Along with insecurity, a lack of adequate funding continues to undermine efforts to meet critical needs across Yemen. Last year's Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) requested US$2.7 billion to reach 11.2 million people in need across the country. As of January 2025, the 2024 HRP was only 53 percent funded.
Despite funding shortfalls and security challenges, 197 aid organizations reached more than 8 million people with life-saving assistance last year - two-thirds of which were local Yemeni organizations.
Yemen faces more humanitarian challenges.
In December, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Yemen bore the highest burden of cholera in the world in 2024. According to a WHO report, approximately 250,000 suspected cases of cholera and more than 860 associated deaths had been reported since the beginning of the year, accounting for 35 percent of the global cholera burden and 18 percent of the global reported mortality.
Yemen is also one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. And it is among the least prepared to mitigate or adapt to the impacts of more frequent climate-related natural hazards, such as flooding. In 2024, more than 1.3 million people were affected by climate-related extreme weather events.