Resolution 2813 (2026), submitted by the United Kingdom, received 13 votes in favour and none against. Two countries – China and Russia – abstained.
It calls for the effective, efficient and safe drawdown of the UN Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA), as well as planning and preparation for transitioning any residual functions to the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen.
Liquidation will commence on 1 April.
Tireless efforts
UNMHA was established by the Council in 2019 to support implementation of an agreement signed by the Yemeni Government and Houthi rebels in Stockholm, Sweden, the previous year.
The UN brokered the accord at a time when a battle over Hudaydah – critical for the entry of food and medicine into war-ravaged Yemen – appeared imminent.
UK Deputy Permanent Representative Archie Young welcomed the mandate extension.
He also thanked “those UNMHA officials who have worked tirelessly since 2019, especially in the face of continued Houthi restrictions which inhibited the Mission’s ability to fulfill its mandate.”
Concern for UN personnel
He stressed that the safety of UN personnel in Yemen “remains of the utmost importance” and reiterated the UK’s condemnation of arbitrary detentions by the Houthis.
The rebel movement which controls much of the country, including the capital, is holding 69 UN staff, alongside personnel 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 their immediate and unconditional release.
Important stabilising role
Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva explained why Moscow abstained from voting.
“We did not block the adoption of this resolution purely due to the request of representatives of Yemen, as the host state, as well as from some of our regional partners,” she said.
“In principle, we do not agree with the idea set out by the authors of this document: the idea that UNMHA is ineffective and incapable of duly fulfilling the mandate entrusted to it by the Council, hence the need to sunset the Mission.”
She said the Mission “has played and continues to play an important stabilising role on the ground, notwithstanding the operational difficulties linked to implementation of its mandate, which arise from time to time.”
Among its “still relevant functions” are monitoring implementation of the Stockholm Agreement; facilitating maintenance of the civilian nature of the ports of Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Isa, and oversight of mine clearance operations.
