VIII. The United Nations and International Donors

The United Nations

Security concerns throughout Yemen have placed all UN staff in the country on heightened security alert. Since the beginning of the armed conflict in 2004, UN agencies have operated in only two towns-Sa'da and Malahit-in the war-torn Sa'da governorate.

After six months of negotiation between the World Food Program (WFP) and the government regarding access to IDP camps in Sa'da town, the UN in June 2007 began to provide assistance to some of the war-affected population.[151] Since then, the WFP, which chairs the UN Emergency Response and Preparedness Team, has taken the de facto lead among UN agencies in terms of service provision in Sa'da town, continuing to organize food distribution through its implementing partners, Islamic Relief and the Yemeni Red Crescent.

Since mid-2007, UNICEF has funded four aid agencies to carry out work in Sa'da town's camps.[152] Since October 2007, UNHCR has also carried out limited distribution of non-food items in Sa'da town's camps.[153] By July 2008, UNHCR had international staff on standby to travel and work in Sa'da, including in Yemeni Red Crescent-run camps, to monitor and report on humanitarian needs and other pressing issues. In the absence of other UN agencies such as the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, which has no staff in Yemen, only UNHCR staff are available for possible full-time deployment in Sa'da, including during times of conflict, for identifying assistance needs and other humanitarian concerns.

In mid-July 2008 the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) sent a staff member to Yemen to improve coordination among UN agencies and between the UN and NGOs working in Sa'da governorate.

International Donors

Donors to Yemen, including nine European Union (EU) states, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States, have been reluctant to press the government on its conduct of the war and the issue of humanitarian access.[154] The main reason for this reluctance appears to be a belief that Yemen's overriding challenges are security-specifically the fight against al Qaeda, which has a strong presence in Yemen-and development.[155] Despite the humanitarian suffering and the human rights emergency created by four years of war, and despite rule of law initiatives launched by some donors, to date the primary goal of the donors appears to be to stabilize the government's fragile political grip on the country, a goal which they view as incompatible with holding the authorities accountable over their conduct in the war.

This reticence to engage the government over its laws of war obligations, particularly on the question of humanitarian access, is reflected in the wording of the only public document released by the EU since the war started in 2004, a June 2008 declaration of the Council of the European Union:

The EU firmly supports the Government and people of Yemen in addressing the country's economic, political security and social challenges. While acknowledging the need for the Government … to maintain security within its borders, the EU remains concerned by the recent escalation of fighting around Sa'dah and the expansion of the conflict to the outskirts of San'a and other areas [and] remains ready to consider urgent humanitarian assistance to victims, including the worrying number of IDPs.[156]

The statement said nothing about violations of international humanitarian law by either government forces or the Huthis.

In June and July 2008 some EU member states and the European Commission attempted but failed to adopt a joint EU demarche on the issue of humanitarian access within Sa'da governorate.[157] Shortly thereafter, the US embassy brought together representatives of interested embassies, two UN agencies (WFP and UNDP, the latter as Resident Coordinator, the UN's highest representative in a country), and international NGOs to try to agree on a joint approach towards the Yemeni authorities on the issue of humanitarian access and access to medical relief. Although participants arrived at a consensus on the main parts of a written text, no agreement could be reached on the best format for approaching the authorities, in part because EU states could not agree on whether member states should present a joint front or whether member states could individually sign onto the initiative. Shortly after the question had been resolved at the EU headquarters in Brussels, President Saleh declared an end to the fifth round of fighting on July 17, 2008.[158]