UN officials call for urgent action in Yemen to push peace, reduce hunger

Top UN officials called for bolstered efforts to stave off rising hunger and foster a path towards permanent peace in Yemen as they briefed the Security Council Tuesday morning.

Addressing the 15-member Council about the current situation on the ground, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said that while the 2022 truce between the Houthi rebels and the government continues to hold, the conflict is unresolved, with Yemenis bearing the cost of this uncertainty.

“In meetings with Yemenis, we are told that entrenched front lines across the country are draining resources, deepening fragmentation and accelerating the militarisation of society, even driving students and teachers to join armed groups simply as a means of economic survival,” Mr. Grundberg said.

“As long as Yemen’s conflict remains unsettled, the risk of further destabilisation persists, both within the country and, should regional tensions flare again, well beyond it.”

The parties should use this window of regional de-escalation to make progress toward reviving a political process that can sustainably end the conflict in Yemen, he said.

The special envoy reiterated an appeal for the release of 73 UN personnel currently under arbitrary detention by Houthi rebels, many since 2024.

“The Secretary-General’s recent statement underscored that these detentions violate international law, cause deep suffering to families and constrain the UN’s ability to assist millions of people in need,” Mr. Grundberg said, noting that the Security Council had condemned the detentions earlier this month, demanding the unconditional, safe and immediate release of all those held.

“The United Nations will continue doing all it can to press for their releases,” he said, asking the Security Council to continue its efforts until “our colleagues are freed.”

Echoing that appeal, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher also warned of a worsening humanitarian landscape, emphasising that without urgent action, acute hunger will continue to rise and lives will be lost.

Earlier this month, new analysis by the leading UN-backed global food security platform found that around five million people – nearly half of the population in Government-controlled areas of Yemen – are facing high levels of acute food insecurity with the crisis set to deepen further if international aid cuts continue.

“A hunger crisis is not just empty plates; it is stolen lives and futures,” the UN relief chief told the Council, noting that more than 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished and, without sustained support, many will carry lifelong consequences.

“Just as needs rise, support is shrinking,” said Mr. Fletcher, who leads the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA. “Every funding cut has a human cost: a missed meal, untreated malnutrition, a community cut off from help.”

Mr. Fletcher said OCHA’s crisis response director is currently in Yemen, hearing directly from communities, where families are trapped in repeated displacement, children are out of school, disease is spreading, women and girls are facing acute violence and deprivation and livelihoods are shattered by conflict, floods and drought.

“Local partners are stepping up, but they cannot do more without sustained funding,” he said, asking the Council for three actions: