Agency confirms death of staffer a day after UN pauses operations in northern Yemen due to Houthi detentions.
An aid worker from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has died in a Yemeni prison three weeks after being detained in the country’s north, according to the organisation.
The announcement on Tuesday comes a day after the UN suspended aid operations in the northern region of Saada, citing detentions of its staff by the Houthi group, which controls the area.
The WFP did not release when or how its employee had died but said he had been one of seven local staff who had been “arbitrarily detained by local authorities” since January 23.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the WFP said the organisation is “grief-stricken and outraged” by the death. The UN has repeatedly called on the Houthis to release detained UN staff members.
“Heartbroken and outraged by the tragic loss of WFP team member, Ahmed, who lost his life while arbitrarily detained in Yemen,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain wrote on X.
She added that the 40-year-old who joined the humanitarian organisation in 2017 “played a crucial role in our mission to deliver lifesaving food assistance”. He is survived by his wife and two children.
In a statement on Monday, a UN spokesperson explained that the “extraordinary” decision to pause all operations and programmes in Saada was due to the lack of necessary security conditions.
Houthi authorities have detained dozens of UN staff since 2021, and the group was holding at least 24 people before the latest arrests. The group has at times portrayed the workers as collaborators with Western intelligence agencies, a charge the humanitarian community has staunchly denied.
The UN decision to pause operations is expected to impact the global response to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. Seven UN agencies operate in Saada – including the WFP, World Health Organization and UNICEF – along with several other international aid organisations.
Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations during a decade of civil war, which has disrupted food supplies and displaced millions of people. The WFP said it provided assistance to 47 percent of Yemen’s population – accounting for roughly 15.3 million people – in 2023.
The UN has projected that the need for aid is only rising. The agency has estimated more than 19 million people across Yemen will need humanitarian assistance this year as many deal with climate shocks, malnutrition, cholera and the economic effects of the war.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s northern region. The offensive forced the government, led by then-President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, to flee south. It is currently based in the port city of Aden.
The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians and fighters, and in recent years has largely deteriorated into a stalemate as efforts towards a lasting peace have stalled.