Yemen Greenlights Measures to Relocate Int’l Organizations’ HQs to Aden

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Yemen Greenlights Measures to Relocate Int’l Organizations’ HQs to Aden

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The Yemeni government has adopted a series of measures and facilitations aimed at completing the transfer of international organizations’ headquarters from Sanaa, under the control of the Houthi group, to the interim capital Aden.
It has renewed its warning against international complacency regarding Houthi violations in humanitarian and relief work.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have intensified repressive measures against international humanitarian workers and UN agencies, arresting dozens of them on charges of espionage and spying for the US.
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak chaired a government meeting in Aden to evaluate the progress of humanitarian and developmental interventions by international and UN agencies.
He also reviewed the measures taken to facilitate the relocation of organizations to Aden, enabling them to carry out their tasks without obstacles or restrictions.
According to state media, the meeting highlighted ongoing violations by the Houthis against humanitarian and relief efforts, including the recent abduction of dozens of UN staff and international and local NGOs operating in Yemen.
The government meeting condemned the Houthi group’s arrests as a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a direct threat to the lives, security, and safety of humanitarian workers.”
It also emphasized the legal, ethical, and humanitarian responsibility of the Yemeni government to protect citizens in militia-controlled areas.
Yemen’s government meeting approved actions to handle recent humanitarian developments, focusing on ongoing Houthi violations against international agencies and their staff.
They instructed ministries to facilitate the relocation of these agencies to Aden, ensuring services reach all Yemeni citizens.
The meeting also reviewed Houthi arrests of international agency workers, discussing plans to realign aid efforts and donor funds in response. Yemen reiterated warnings against ignoring Houthi abuses and pressures on humanitarian operations in the country.
Yemen’s cabinet accused the Houthi group of using humanitarian aid for political and military purposes, turning areas they control into prisons for dissenters.
The government urged immediate action to pressure the Houthis into releasing abducted UN and international NGO staff without conditions.
UN envoy Hans Grundberg highlighted to the UN Security Council the Houthis’ crackdown on Yemeni civil society and NGOs, noting the arbitrary detention of 13 UN staff, including one in Sanaa, and five international NGO workers, along with many others from local NGOs and civil society.



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.