The fragile United States-Iran ceasefire is holding, following over a month of strikes and counterstrikes in the Gulf region – and in connection with that conflict, the Houthi movement’s military wing launched attacks against Israel at the end of March.
Tensions from this and earlier regional conflicts have long had implications for maritime security, and the Council adopted resolution 2722 (2024) two years ago in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war demanding that the Houthis cease attacks against merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
At the beginning of last week, China and Russia vetoed a resolution seeking to deter attempts to interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz or to threaten maritime security in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the latter of which lies between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
Higher food, fuel costs, amplify fragility
“After a decade of conflict, Yemen has little margin to absorb more shocks,” said Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for that country, recalling his recent trip to Yemen’s temporary capital of Aden.
Yemenis have long faced inadequate public services, delayed salaries and rising prices, he noted.
Now, they must contend with even higher costs for fuel and food triggered by conflict in the region.
These new pressures join old ones, he added – obstruction of Government exports, division of the central bank and the “broader weaponisation of economic life that has, for too long, made ordinary Yemenis pay the price of decisions taken over their heads”.
And, despite broad de-escalation that has held since the 2022 truce, he emphasized that “this relative calm cannot be taken for granted”. Nevertheless, he underscored that Yemenis’ future must not be held hostage by that instability and that an inclusive political process must be pursued.
Humanitarian needs soar
Edem Wosornu, Director of the Crisis Response Division for aid coordination office, OCHA, echoed Mr. Grundberg’s concerns for the 22 million and rising number of Yemenis who require humanitarian aid.
“This crisis is hitting the most vulnerable first and hardest,” she stressed, reporting that more than 18 million people face severe hunger and that two out of every three families are forced to skip meals daily. “Women and children are hit first and fastest,” she added.
On that, she reported that over two million children under five are acutely malnourished and over a million pregnant and breastfeeding women face life-threatening complications due to malnutrition.
Further, more than 19 million people lack access to healthcare and vaccine-preventable diseases are rapidly spreading.
Meanwhile, aid operations have slowed as 73 UN staff remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, assets have been seized, access is severely restricted and supply chains have been disrupted across the region.
“The gap between the resources we have and soaring humanitarian needs, is widening,” she stressed.
A decade of conflict has left people in Yemen “hanging by a thread”, warned Ms. Wosornu – “and that thread is now fraying.”
