The United Nations food agency is shutting down its operations in the northern, rebel-held part of Yemen, following restrictions imposed by the Houthi rebels and harassment from the Iranian-backed group, U.N. officials said Thursday.
The officials, with direct knowledge of The World Food Program (WFP) decisions, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be announced shutdown
According to the U.N. officials, the WFP’s 365 staff members in northern Yemen will lose their jobs by the end of March. One official blamed the “insecure operating environment” in the Houthi-controlled areas and lack of sufficient funding for the WFP decision.
WFP ’s move is likely to worsen the dire humanitarian conditions in the impoverished Arab country amid the rebel Houthis’ crackdown on U.N. workers and aid groups in areas under their control, as well as funding shortages.
Over the last few years, the Houthis have cracked down on the U.N. in their areas of control, detaining dozens of U.N. staffers as well as workers for nongovernmental and civil society groups, and staffers of diplomatic missions.
The rebels have escalated their crackdown in recent months, forcibly entering and occupying U.N. premises in Sanaa and other elsewhere. They have claimed, without offering evidence, that detained U.N. staff and employees of other organizations and embassies are spies, which the U.N. has denied.
The crackdown severely restricted humanitarian operations in the Houthi-held areas, which account to around 70% of humanitarian needs in the country, according to the U.N.
Ramesh Rajasingham, who directs humanitarian operations in Yemen, told the U.N. Security Council earlier this month that more than 18 million people in Yemen could face acute food insecurity in the coming month, with tens of thousands at risk of slipping into “catastrophic hunger” and facing famine-like conditions.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said humanitarian operations in Yemen in 2025 were just 25% funded. The gap, OCHA said in a Jan. 4 report, forced U.N. agencies and aid groups to scale back life-saving services across all sectors, particularly health and protection programs.