HAMILTON, Canada

UN officials on Wednesday warned that Yemen's fragile stability is under strain, highlighting the need for a comprehensive political process to prevent renewed conflict.

"Over the past months, Yemen has experienced a series of rapid and significant developments that have reshaped key political and security dynamics," UN special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, told the Security Council.

He said "the relative de-escalation achieved in Yemen since 2022 created a temporary calm," but it "was never intended to represent an end state, but rather an opening that required sustained political direction to translate fragile stability into lasting resolution."

He warned that "the developments in southern Yemen highlight how quickly that fragile balance can be disrupted and how critical it is to re-anchor the process in a credible political pathway."

"In recent days, military de-escalation and general stabilization have been achieved, yet the security situation in parts of the south remains fragile," he said.

Grundberg welcomed and encouraged "regional and national efforts to address recent developments through dialogue," stressing that "achieving sustained and concrete solutions for Yemen necessitates not only the active willingness of Yemeni stakeholders, but also the concerted and united support of the region."

He said "the future of the south cannot be determined by any single actor or through force," adding: "For many Yemenis, instability is first felt in the economy, in prices that rise overnight, in salary payments pushed even further back, and in basic services breaking down."

"Yemen’s political, economic, and security challenges are inseparable, and progress in one will not hold without progress in the others," he said. "The issue of the south, in particular, is bound up with fundamental questions about the future shape of the state, security arrangements, and economic governance."

Grundberg said this is why Yemen needs "a comprehensive, inclusive, nationwide political process, one that offers Yemenis a space to debate and negotiate these questions together, rather than in isolation."

Expressing "deep concern" over the continued detention of UN staff, he said: "Despite sustained engagement by the UN to secure the release of our staff, Ansar Allah [Houthis] has instead detained additional personnel and, very alarmingly, referred some to their special criminal court."

Humanitarian situation worsening

Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Coordination Division, echoed Grundberg's concerns and said: "The unavoidable reality is that the United Nations must continue to reevaluate and reorganize our humanitarian operations on the ground in DFA-held areas of Yemen."

He said "the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening, particularly in the critical areas of food security, nutrition and healthcare," warning that "more than 18 million Yemenis – or half the population, will face acute food insecurity next month."

Rajasingham said "women and girls are hit hardest, often eating last and least," while "Yemen’s health system is collapsing," as hundreds of facilities have closed due to funding cuts.

"Nearly half of Yemen’s children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, but funding shortfalls last year meant that only 2 million people out of the nearly 8 million targeted for critical nutrition interventions were reached," he added.

He said Yemen has the "highest caseload of measles cases in the world, one of the highest polio cases globally, and ranked among the top three countries globally for suspected cholera cases."

Urging the Security Council to push for "the release of the 73 UN workers who remain held by the Houthi de facto authorities," he also asked them to "step up funding to a crisis that shows no sign of lessening," and to "maintain the unity that has served this Council so well on the issue of Yemen."