Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / YEMEN HODEIDAH AGREEMENT
STORY: UN / YEMEN HODEIDAH AGREEMENT
TRT: 03:33
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / CHINESE / NATS
DATELINE: 27 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Somalia:
“I wish to draw the attention of the Council members to the document S/2025/766, 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 a vote now. Those in favor of the draft resolution contained in the document S/2026/M.40, please raise your hands. Those against the resolution? Any abstentions? The result of the vote is as follows: 13 votes in favor, zero votes against, two abstentions. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2813 (2026).”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna Evstigneeva, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“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. Since its establishment this United Nations structure had played and continues to play an important stabilizing role on the ground, notwithstanding the operational difficulties linked to implementation of its mandate.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Fu Cong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations:
“Although UNMHA will soon withdraw, its core tasks related to the Hodeidah Agreement, such as monitoring the ceasefire and engaging with the parties to the conflict, will not come to an end. The Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen will continue with the responsibilities. 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 on matters such as personnel roster and asset liquidation, to ensure that UNMHA completes its withdrawal safely and then in an orderly manner.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tammy Bruce, Ambassador, Deputy Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“As the Secretary-General noted, the mission’s operating environment is non-permissive.
Houthis 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 who, with the support of the Iranian regime, pose 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.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
The UN Security Council voted with 13 votes in favor, zero votes against and two abstentions to shut down the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement, bringing an end to the UN’s physical presence in the strategic Yemeni port city.
The resolution extends UNMHA’s mandate for a final two-month period, until the end of March, to allow for an orderly drawdown before the mission formally closes.
Russia and China abstained from the vote, voicing concerns over the decision to sunset the mission. Speaking after the adoption, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said Moscow rejected the premise that UNMHA had failed.
“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,” she said, adding that “since its establishment this United Nations structure had played and continues to play an important stabilizing role on the ground.”
China also abstained, while stressing that UN engagement on the Hodeidah Agreement should continue beyond the mission’s closure. Ambassador Fu Cong said, “Although UNMHA will soon withdraw, its core tasks related to the Hodeidah Agreement, such as monitoring the ceasefire and engaging with the parties to the conflict, will not come to an end.”
He also noted that these responsibilities would be transferred to the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen. He added that China expects “a feasible plan on matters such as personnel roster and asset liquidation, to ensure that UNMHA completes its withdrawal safely and then in an orderly manner.”
The United States strongly backed the decision to close the mission, arguing that ongoing restrictions imposed by the Houthis had rendered UNMHA unworkable. US deputy ambassador Tammy Bruce said, “As the Secretary-General noted, the mission’s operating environment is non-permissive.”
She asserted the Houthis are deliberately undermining the mission, saying, “Houthis obstructionism has left the mission without a purpose, and it has to close.” Bruce went on to describe the Houthis as “a terrorist organization who, with the support of the Iranian regime, pose a continuing threat to regional stability and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.”
The resolution extends UNMHA’s mandate for a final two-month period, until 31 March, to allow for the safe and orderly drawdown of the mission, including the withdrawal of its personnel and assets and the end of the UN’s permanent presence in Hodeidah.
Any remaining functions linked to the Hodeidah Agreement will be transitioned to the Office of the UN Special Envoy, with the mission set to begin liquidation on 1 April, bringing to a close a UN operation launched in 2019 to help oversee a fragile ceasefire at one of Yemen’s most critical humanitarian lifelines.
Download
There is no media available to download.
