The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) for a final two-month period, ending on March 31. The move is intended to pave the way for the mission’s closure and the withdrawal of the UN’s on-the-ground presence from the city of Hodeidah.
The draft resolution was prepared by the United Kingdom, acting as the penholder on the Yemen file at the Security Council.
UNMHA was established under Security Council Resolution 2452, unanimously adopted on January 16, 2019, to support the implementation of the Hodeidah Agreement, which emerged from the Stockholm Agreement signed on December 13, 2018, between the Yemeni government and the Houthi movement. The mission’s mandate included supporting the ceasefire in the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Issa, leading the Redeployment Coordination Committee, monitoring developments on the ground, and facilitating implementation of the agreement.
The mission has held particular humanitarian significance. A review submitted by the UN Secretary-General on June 10, 2025, noted that approximately 70 percent of Yemen’s commercial imports and 80 percent of humanitarian aid pass through the port of Hodeidah alone, warning that any disruption to the operation of the three ports could further worsen Yemen’s already dire humanitarian situation.
However, the Hodeidah Agreement has never been fully implemented. Since the Houthis took control of the city and port of Hodeidah in November 2021, UNMHA has faced growing obstacles in carrying out its mandate, amid what the United Nations has described as a “severely restricted operating environment,” including repeated refusals to allow expanded UN patrol access or increased monitoring activities.
During a Security Council briefing in July 2025, the United States argued that the mission had “outlived its usefulness” and called for its termination. Other Council members, including China and Russia, maintained that the mission continued to play a stabilizing role by helping prevent escalation and facilitating dialogue between the parties to the conflict.
The Security Council last renewed UNMHA’s mandate in July for a six-month period, marking a departure from the annual renewals that had been in place since 2020, while signaling that options for the mission’s future—including its termination—were under active consideration.
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