S/PV.10097 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2026/40, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2025/766, which contains a letter dated 25 November 2025 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 13 votes in favour, none against and 2 abstentions. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2813 (2026). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

We welcome the Council’s extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) for a final two-month period, until 31 March 2026. We look forward to the Organization’s orderly and sustainable transition of UNMHA’s responsibilities and residual functions to the Office of the Special Envoy, and we welcome the continued commitment of the Council to the Agreement on the City of Hudaydah and the Ports of Hudaydah, Salif, and Ra’s Isa and the Stockholm Agreement. I want to thank those UNMHA officials who have worked tirelessly since 2019, especially in the face of continued Houthi restrictions, which inhibited the Mission’s ability to fulfil its mandate. The safety of United Nations personnel across Yemen remains of the utmost importance. Once again, the United Kingdom condemns arbitrary detentions by the Houthis, and we reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained. The United Kingdom remains steadfast in our support for the Special Envoy in fostering an intra-Yemeni peace process under United Nations auspices.

The Russian Federation abstained in the voting on the United Kingdom-drafted resolution 2813 (2026), on extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) for a final two-month period prior to the start of the process of its liquidation. The only reason we did not block the adoption of this resolution was because of the appeals of representatives of Yemen, the host State, as well as those of some of our regional partners. In principle, we do not agree with the idea set out by the sponsors of the document, namely that UNMHA is ineffective and incapable of duly fulfilling the mandate entrusted to it by the Council, and that there is a need, therefore, to promptly sunset the Mission. Since its establishment, this United Nations structure has played an important stabilizing role on the ground, notwithstanding the operational difficulties related to the implementation of its mandate that arise from time to time. The Mission retains relevant functions, which include monitoring the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement on Hudaydah, ensuring the maintenance of the civilian character of the Yemeni ports of Hudaydah, Salif, and Ra’s Isa, as well as overseeing mine-clearance operations. In addition, UNMHA is an important component for trust- building between the conflicting Yemeni parties, including through the Redeployment Coordination Committee, and it facilitates the efforts of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Hans Grundberg. We firmly believe that, at the present juncture, the Security Council’s efforts in Yemen need to be focused, first and foremost, on advancing comprehensive normalization and creating conditions for the launch of an inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue. This will unlikely be facilitated through liquidating one of the few remaining United Nations presences in the country, especially one with robust working contacts with all influential political forces on the ground. Moving forward, the Security Council is well-advised to monitor the situation in Yemen even more closely given the potential military, political and humanitarian implications of the closure of UNMHA. We trust that the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen will conscientiously perform the above- mentioned functions following the closure of the United Nations mission.

China abstained in the voting on resolution 2813 (2026). I would like to explain our position as follows. In December 2018, in order to support and assist the implementation of the Agreement on the City of Hudaydah and the Ports of Hudaydah, Salif, and Ra’s Isa, the Security Council authorized the establishment of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA). Over the past seven years, the Mission has maintained communication with the parties to the conflict, actively monitored the ceasefire and carried out livelihood and humanitarian activities, contributing to the maintenance of stability in Hudaydah and its surrounding areas and preventing an escalation of the conflict. At present, the situation in Yemen remains complex, and the security situation on the ground in Hudaydah is tense, with a persistent risk of renewed conflict. China has approached the proposal to withdraw UNMHA with caution. We believe that, in considering the Mission’s future arrangements, the Security Council should fully take into account the situation on the ground in Hudaydah, carefully manage the pace of the withdrawal and avoid a hasty drawdown which could destabilize the fragile situation or even trigger new conflict. A number of Council members also expressed concerns during consultations about the requirement in the resolution for UNMHA to withdraw within two months. In the light of this and taking into account the positions of the parties concerned and the countries in the region, China had no choice but to abstain in the voting on the resolution. Although UNMHA will soon withdraw, its core tasks related to the Hudaydah Agreement, including monitoring the ceasefire and engaging with the parties to the conflict, will not come to an end and will be taken up by the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen. China looks forward to the Secretary- General, in accordance with the resolution and after fully listening to the views of all Yemeni parties, formulating a feasible plan regarding the withdrawal of UNMHA personnel and the liquidation of assets, so as to ensure a safe and orderly withdrawal of the Mission. We hope that the Special Envoy for Yemen and his Office will strengthen communication and coordination with UNMHA to ensure a smooth transition of the Mission’s remaining functions. We call on the parties to the Hudaydah Agreement to effectively fulfil their obligations under the Agreement and jointly safeguard security and stability in Hudaydah and its surrounding areas.

The United States thanks the United Kingdom for its coordination of resolution 2813 (2026). The United States appreciates that the Council has come to recognize that it is time to sunset the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA). As the Secretary-General noted, the Mission’s operating environment is non-permissive. Houthi obstructionism has left the Mission without a purpose, and it has to close. This obstructionism is how the Houthis operate. They are a terrorist organization that, with the support of the Iranian regime, poses a continuing threat to regional stability and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways. The Security Council should concentrate its efforts on depriving the Houthis of resources to conduct their terrorist activities. The Security Council has a responsibility to look at all special political missions with the same critical eye with which it has examined UNMHA. The Council must adapt or end missions if conditions on the ground are not tolerable. This is especially true given the United Nations imperative to streamline operations and optimize resource allocation. The large investments in peace operations need to be justified by actionable end states and clear metrics. If the investment cannot be justified, then the mission must be streamlined or closed, as is the case with UNMHA.

Denmark voted in favour of resolution 2813 (2026), extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) for another two months before its drawdown on 31 March. For six years, UNMHA has served as a critical stabilizing presence in Hudaydah. It has engaged with the parties, through the Redeployment Coordination Committee, to de-escalate tensions, contributed to ensuring accountability for ceasefire violations, and actively deterred and prevented a return to full-scale conflict in the governorate. Today, however, the Mission operates in a different political, military and security environment. The dynamics of the conflict have evolved, and the operating environment has significantly narrowed, as United Nations personnel have become the target of the Houthis’ arbitrary detentions. In the current operating environment, UNMHA’s ability to fully implement its mandate has become untenable. We therefore support the drawdown of the Mission and an integration of its tasks into the Office of the Special Envoy. We hope that this can create new synergies with the nationwide political process and help to avoid potential unintended negative impacts on humanitarian aid flows through the port of Hudaydah. We further call for adequate resources to be devoted to this important integration. Let me extend our gratitude to all those who have served in UNMHA despite the challenging circumstances. Denmark was proud to contribute to the Mission during its first year, with Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard at the helm. We will continue to support the implementation of the Agreement on the City of Hudaydah and the Ports of Hudaydah, Salif, and Ra’s Isa and encourage all parties to refrain from any escalatory moves at this crucial time and to facilitate an orderly drawdown of the Mission, including the retrieval of all its assets.