UN Urges US To Drop Houthi Terrorist Designation International body's special coordinator says US plan to provide licenses to avoid follow on sanctions is insufficient. The UN urged the Trump administration on Thursday to reverse its decision to label Yemen's Houthi rebels as a terror group, warning the move could exacerbate the country's dire humanitarian crisis. The UN's aid chief Mark Lowcok told the Security Council the decision will push the impoverished nation into "a large-scale famine on a scale that we have not seen for nearly 40 years." Yemen, which has been locked in a civil conflict exacerbated by regional interests since 2014, imports 90% of its food through commercial channels. The Houthis control commerce in areas they govern.