Situation context
Yemen is a country on the southern Arabian Peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea. The country has a long history dating back to ancient civilizations such as the Sabaeans and occupies a strategic maritime position near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, an important global shipping route connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.
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What is Yemen situation about?
Yemen - Overview
What this is about The Yemen situation, as discussed in the Security Council, is a long-running armed and political conflict centred on the internationally recognized Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah, commonly referred to as the Houthis. Over time, it has also become tied to southern political tensions, economic fragmentation, and wider regional escalation. In simple terms, Yemen is not just facing a battlefield conflict. It is also facing: a broken political process, a collapsing economy, severe humanitarian need, and growing spillover into regional security, especially in the Red Sea. Security Council discussions repeatedly stress that Yemen’s institutions have been badly damaged, the country’s administrative and monetary systems have been split, and no durable military solution has emerged. --- Why the Security Council keeps discussing Yemen Yemen stays on the Council’s agenda...
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How did the Yemen situation evolve over time?
Yemen - Timeline
Yemen over time The Security Council record shows Yemen evolving less as a straight line from war to peace than as a series of partial de-escalations, failed openings, and new forms of conflict. A key limitation is that the documentary trail is strongest from 2020 onward. Earlier origins are referred to retrospectively: several speakers traced the crisis back to the Houthi takeover beginning in 2014 and the wider war that intensified in 2015. Across the period, UN briefers and many Council members repeatedly stressed the same basic point: there is no military solution, and any durable settlement must come through an inclusive political process under UN auspices, often linked to the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, the National Dialogue outcomes, the Stockholm Agreement, the Riyadh Agreement, and resolution 2216 (2015). --- 2020: fragile de-escalation, but no real breakthrough In...
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