Save the Children officially warned by regulator over staff put at risk in Yemen

Children displaced a camp for internally displaced people near Aden, Yemen, on . Photograph: Reuters View image in fullscreen Children displaced a camp for internally displaced people near Aden, Yemen, on . Photograph: Reuters Save the Children officially warned -year investigation after death of Hisham al-Hakimi in October 2023 The international aid charity Save the Children has been issued with an official regulatory warning over management failures and misconduct that put staff at its Yemen office at serious risk. The warning concluded a two-year investigation , Hisham Al-Hakimi, in October 2023 after he was detained . The commission said weak governance meant staff at the Yemen office were not properly safeguarded in response to what it called a “live security concern”, and incidents of poor conduct . The warning letter refers to “substantial policy breaches and a lack of accountability” at the office, and said local charity bosses failed to adequately assess and escalate complaints and reports made by whistleblowers. An internal Save the Children investigation in 2024 after the death of Al-Hakimi found a “negative working culture” in the Yemen office had left staff “disillusioned and marginalised”. It apologised to staff after admitting it had let them down . In a statement to the Guardian, Save the Children International said that since 2024 it had made significant changes under new leadership in Yemen to strengthen oversight, improve support for staff and rebuild trust. The charity has closed its north Yemen office because of security concerns. It said despite its best efforts to understand the circumstances around Al-Hakimi’s detention and his death the challenges in Yemen meant it may never know what happened and why. Another Save the Children member of staff is understood to currently be in detention. The commission’s warning comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the charity has been providing emergency medical help, shelter and drinking water to displaced families. Official warnings are relatively rare, and are issued when the commission decides breaches of trust or mismanagement in a charity put its staff or beneficiaries at risk. They can be issued where charity trustees are deemed to have acted recklessly or without proper care. The commission ordered Save the Children International to ensure sufficient resources are in place to safeguard and protect staff and other individuals working with the charity. Stephen Roake, assistant director for high-risk compliance at the commission, said: “It can be incredibly difficult for charities operating in high-risk, volatile environments and we know that circumstances can change rapidly.