Calls for the effective, efficient and safe drawdown of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA), as well as planning and preparation for the transition of any residual functions to the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen.
Liquidation will begin on April 1.
Tireless efforts
UNMHA was established by the Council in 2019 to support the implementation of an agreement signed by the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in Stockholm, Sweden, the previous year.
The UN negotiated the deal at a time when a battle for Hudaydah, critical to the entry of food and medicine into war-torn Yemen, appeared imminent.
UK Deputy Permanent Representative Archie Young welcomed the extension of the mandate.
He also thanked “UNMHA officials who have worked tirelessly since 2019, especially in the face of continued Houthi restrictions that inhibited the Mission’s ability to fulfill its mandate.”
Concern for UN staff
He stressed that the safety of UN staff in Yemen “remains of paramount importance” and reiterated the UK’s condemnation of arbitrary detentions by the Houthis.
The rebel movement that controls much of the country, including the capital, has 69 UN staff, along with staff from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society and diplomatic missions.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, his special envoy Hans Grundberg, and other senior officials have repeatedly called for his immediate and unconditional release.
Important stabilizing role
Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva explained why Moscow abstained from the vote.
“We did not block the adoption of this resolution simply at the request of representatives of Yemen, as the host state, as well as some of our regional partners,” he said.
“In principle, we do not agree with the idea put forward by the authors of this document: the idea that UNMHA is ineffective and incapable of properly fulfilling the mandate entrusted to it by the Council, hence the need to terminate the Mission.”
He said the Mission “has played and continues to play an important stabilizing role on the ground, despite operational difficulties related to the implementation of its mandate, which arise from time to time.”
Among its “still relevant functions” are monitoring the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement; facilitate the maintenance of the civilian character of the ports of Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Isa, and supervise demining operations.