OCHA briefs Security Council on Yemen, urges "restraint and de-escalation"
Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen by Lisa Doughten, Director, Financing and Partnerships Division for OCHA, on behalf of Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
As prepared for delivery
Thank you, Mr. President.
And thank you to Special Envoy Grundberg for his update and for his unstinting efforts to bring about lasting peace in Yemen.
Mr. President,
Let me start by once again raising the continuing arbitrary detention by the Houthi de facto authorities of United Nations personnel and dozens of international and national NGO staff and civil society representatives, among others. All of them are Yemeni men and women.
They have now been held in detention for more than two months, in addition to the four United Nations personnel arbitrarily detained since 2021 and 2023.
The United Nations continues efforts to secure their release and we are in frequent contact with the Houthi de facto authorities and others towards this end.
While a few families of the detained have been able to contact them, the vast majority have still not been afforded this opportunity.
And it remains the case that neither the United Nations nor legal representatives have been allowed to visit or communicate with the detained.
This situation is completely unacceptable.
I once again demand that the Houthi de facto authorities immediately release all our colleagues held in detention.
And I reiterate that while they are detained, they must be treated humanely and be allowed contact with family members and legal counsel in accordance with international norms.
We will continue efforts to secure their release with determination until they are all freed.
We urge all Member States to exert any influence and leverage they have in support of these efforts.
Mr. President,
Over recent weeks, we have seen a worrying deterioration in the operational environment in Houthi-controlled areas.
The Houthi de facto authorities' recent closure of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sana'a, and the subsequent forced entry of the office compound and taking control of UN assets, are wholly unacceptable.
I join High Commissioner Türk in urging them to leave the premises immediately and return all equipment and assets.
These events have occurred alongside other worrying measures that are negatively impacting our ability to sustain humanitarian operations.
The environment in these areas is growing more constrained – at a time when humanitarians are already struggling to meet the needs of millions of people across the country.
The United Nations and our humanitarian partners are committed to staying and delivering for the people of Yemen. But minimum requirements must be met to ensure that UN personnel and other humanitarian workers can do so without having to compromise their safety and security.
Mr. President,
Over the past ten days, heavy rainfall and flash flooding hit several governorates in Yemen, damaging homes, farms and public infrastructure.
About 69,500 families have been directly affected, with many losing their homes and sources of livelihood. Some 98 people have been killed, and more than 600 others injured.
In response, humanitarian partners have provided immediate life-saving assistance – including food, water, hygiene kits and shelter support to affected families.
They also delivered critical medical supplies to local hospitals and health centres and deployed dozens of mobile health teams to affected areas.
However, a lack of adequate funding continues to undermine these and other efforts to address critical needs across Yemen.
Eight months into the year, our targeted and prioritized humanitarian response plan for 2024 is only 27 per cent funded, forcing humanitarians to make difficult decisions about which vulnerable families and communities would receive support.
Mr. President,
Preventing the spread of cholera is one area in which additional funds are urgently needed.
Although the UN-led multi-agency cholera response plan is currently 60 per cent funded, this was based on an initial estimate of 60,000 cholera cases between April and September 2024.
Regrettably, as of the beginning of this month, the number of suspected cases across the country has swelled to more than 147,000 – a substantial increase from that initial estimate.
This means current funding is only sufficient to address a quarter of these cases, leaving a significant response gap which our humanitarian partners have been struggling to fill.
They have been doing their best to support treatment centers, providing them with medications, medical equipment, infection control supplies and other resources.
They are working to strengthen surveillance and response mechanisms to identify and address new cases quickly.
And they have also been promoting prevention measures by improving access to safe water and sanitation services, distributing hygiene kits, and raising awareness in communities at risk.
However, our health cluster colleagues warn that unless these response efforts are immediately bolstered, the number of suspected cases could further increase, potentially reaching more than 250,000 in just a few weeks.
Additional funding is urgently needed to prevent this.
Mr. President,
Food security in Yemen also continues to deteriorate.
Inadequate food consumption has steadily increased, now affecting 60 per cent of surveyed households nationwide. Vulnerable groups, in particular women-headed households, report the most significant impacts.
Rates of severe food deprivation in areas controlled by the Houthi de facto authorities have more than doubled – from 17 to 36 per cent – compared with the same time last year.
They have also increased sharply in Government-controlled areas, and now stand at 32 per cent.
The impacts of increasing food insecurity and malnutrition extend far beyond hunger.
They also expose children, especially girls, to increased rates of abuse and neglect.
Today, an alarming 30 per cent of girls in Yemen are forced into marriage before the age of 18 as families struggle to provide for them.
And the number of children out of school – currently at a staggering 4.5 million – is likely to rise as more children are forced to leave school to help provide for their families.
As we know, particularly for adolescent girls, this not only jeopardizes their futures but exposes them to greater risks of gender-based violence.
To counter the impacts of the recent pause in general food distributions in Houthi-controlled areas, the World Food Programme is currently planning a one-off food distribution to more than 1.6 million people in the 34 worst affected districts.
However, as the overall situation of food insecurity continues to deteriorate across the country, enhanced action will be needed to avert a further potential catastrophe.
Full and urgent funding of the Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen is a minimum requirement for these and other critical humanitarian needs.
Mr. President,
The people of Yemen cannot afford the devastating toll of further conflict.
Indeed, their ability to recover from the devastation of the conflict, address increasing humanitarian needs and take concrete steps towards a more promising and stable future all depend on locking in progress on peace.
I therefore echo the Secretary-General’s call for restraint and de-escalation.
And I urge the Council to support peace in Yemen and the region.
Thank you.