Charity regulator warns Save the Children over staff put at risk in Yemen
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has issued an official warning to Save the Children after a two-year investigation found management failures and misconduct that put staff at its Yemen operation at risk, following the death of Hisham al-Hakimi in Houthi detention in 2023.
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has issued an official warning to Save the Children, concluding a two-year investigation into management failures and misconduct that put staff at the charity’s Yemen operation at risk.
The inquiry was triggered by the death of Hisham al-Hakimi, the charity’s safety and security director in Yemen, who died in October 2023 while detained by Houthi authorities in the capital, Sanaa. He had been detained on 9 September 2023 while off duty, with the charity saying no charges or legal proceedings were filed and no reason given for his detention. Al-Hakimi was 44 and a father of four; the charity gave no details on the circumstances of his death.
Save the Children’s own investigation, summarised in documents seen by The New Humanitarian, found that staff had raised concerns about the Yemen country office in the months before and after his arrest, but that incident management processes had failed and risk management processes were not followed. Its summary described “fundamental failures of leadership, process, and accountability”.
Following al-Hakimi’s death, Save the Children suspended its operations in northern Yemen, where Houthi rebels hold much of the territory, while programmes in the south were unaffected.
Sources
- The Guardian, “Save the Children officially warned by regulator over staff put at risk in Yemen”, 23 September 2026 — https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/23/save-the-children-officially-warned-by-regulator-over-staff-put-at-risk-in-yemen
- Arab News (AFP), “Save the Children halts north Yemen operations after staffer death”, 27 October 2023 — https://www.arabnews.com/middle-east/save-the-children-halts-north-yemen-operations-after-staffer-death-2398421
- The New Humanitarian, “Yemen: summary of investigations” (Save the Children International internal summary) — https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/2025-03/savethechildrensummary.pdf
- Amnesty International, “Yemen: A year on, Huthis must free UN, civil society staff”, May 2025 — https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/yemen-a-year-on-huthis-should-free-un-civil-society-staff/
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