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 by the Charity Commission for England and Wales into the running of the office after the death of its safety and security director, Hisham Al-Hakimi, in October ۲۰۲۳ after he was detained by the Yemeni authorities.
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 by staff were not addressed.
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 ۲۰۲۴ 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 by failing to properly appreciate the risks facing them amid the deteriorating security situation in the country.
In a statement to the Guardian, Save the Children International said that since ۲۰۲۴ 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. However, it is for this very reason that trustees must ensure they have sufficient oversight of their overseas operations.”
In a statement, Save the Children International said it had accepted the commission’s findings of serious shortcomings in governance, management, oversight and compliance with policies and procedures in the Yemen office at the time.
Since ۲۰۲۴, it had installed new leadership in Yemen to strengthen oversight, improve staff support and rebuild trust. It had also introduced detention risk assessments, taken steps to improve incident management procedures and strengthened crisis management.
It said: “We remain committed to learning from this tragedy and ensuring a safe, supportive environment for our colleagues.
“We will continue to work closely with the Charity Commission to address any outstanding matters, while continuing to support our colleagues in Yemen and deliver for children in extremely challenging contexts.”
Save the Children’s Yemen office warned last week that the country faced a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” as a result of escalating conflict, collapsing health services and outbreaks of disease.
More than ۱,۰۰۰ people have been killed or wounded, and tens of thousands displaced by fighting in recent weeks between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
