Yemen has been a United Nations member since 1947, one of the UN's 193 Member States

Background

The United Nations has demanded an investigation into the death of one of its own staff members detained in Yemen, which makes Yemen's long place inside the organisation worth recalling. The UN's official list of Member States gives Yemen a date of admission of 30 September 1947. That is only two years after the United Nations itself came into being, when many of its founding members were admitted in 1945. Yemen is therefore one of the organisation's older members, not a newcomer. The United Nations has 193 Member States in all. Yemen's situation is handled in the Security Council, the UN organ responsible for international peace and security, where the Special Envoy for Yemen reports. Because Yemen is a Member State, UN agencies work in the country with its government, and the Secretary-General can appoint envoys and set up missions concerning it.