UN official: Humanitarian crisis deepens in Yemen and country faces specter of humanitarian catastrophe
Yemen
Yamanat
A UN official has revealed that funding for the Yemen humanitarian response plan for the year 2025 only exceeds 15%, warning that the situation is “absolutely horrific”.
Acting Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Yemen, Ms. Rosaria Bruno, said the crisis is worsening by the day. More than 19 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive, and this number is expected to increase this year.
She said funding cuts are forcing humanitarian agencies to suspend vital programs, leaving millions of people without the ability to get the life-saving assistance they need to survive.
According to Bruno, 18.1 million people are expected to suffer from acute food insecurity as of next September, including 41,000 people likely to face famine (IPC Phase 5).
The UN official spoke about developments, challenges and the reality of the humanitarian situation. Here is the full conversation:
How do you assess the current humanitarian situation in Yemen at its different levels?
The crisis in Yemen remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world and is getting worse by the day.
In Yemen, more than 19 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive. This figure is expected to rise this year, as hunger, conflict, climate shocks, economic decline, the collapse of services and significant reductions in humanitarian funding create the ideal conditions for increased suffering.
The situation is extremely dire, particularly for the most vulnerable population groups in Yemen, including women and girls, internally displaced people and people with disabilities.
As for the numbers:
17.1 million people currently face acute food insecurity, and this number will rise to 18.1 million from September to February.
6.2 million women and girls are exposed to gender-based violence.
17 million people do not have enough water to cover their basic daily needs.
3.2 million children are not in school.
38% of health establishments are partially or non-functional.
More than 19 million people need health assistance.
What are your estimates of the situation of people suffering from food insecurity?
Food insecurity has reached record levels in recent months, with Yemen now experiencing the third largest food crisis in the world.
On behalf of the humanitarian community, on August 12, the alarm was sounded to donors, Member States and the international community, including the Security Council.
Our data is clear: 18.1 million people are expected to be acutely food insecure as early as next month, including 41,000 people at risk of famine (IPC Phase 5).
Half of Yemeni children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition and almost half of them are stunted. One in four pregnant women suffer from wasting.
The prevalence of insufficient food consumption has reached record levels in recent months, with 67% of the population unable to meet their basic nutritional needs.
People are driven to desperate measures to feed their families and make near-impossible choices in the process; For example:
Skipping meals.
Giving up health care to pay for food.
and sell essential goods such as livestock and shelter.
As a result, nearly 4 in 5 families find themselves without savings to continue to cope, and 44% resort to strict dietary strategies to cope.
Gender-based violence, child labor and underage marriages are expected to increase in the coming months.
Behind these numbers are real people: parents who may soon lose their children to hunger, and families who have nowhere to turn and are giving up their access to food.
At the August 12, 2025 Security Council session this week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs shared the story of 9-month-old Ahmed from Abs District, Hajjah Governorate, who is now so emaciated that he cannot sit up and weighs less than two-thirds of his healthy weight. He is one of millions of young people in Yemen who are affected by this crisis.
What is the impact of the funding gap for humanitarian needs on basic relief programs? What is its impact on the most vulnerable groups, such as displaced people?
Yemen, like other crises around the world, is facing significant cuts in funding for the humanitarian response. At more than two-thirds completed by 2025, the Yemen Humanitarian Appeal is only 15% funded.
These funding cuts are forcing humanitarian agencies to suspend vital programs, leaving millions of people without the ability to get the life-saving assistance they need to survive.
In this context, the figures show that:
Half a million vulnerable smallholder farmers risk losing essential sources of food and income, increasing the reliance on harmful coping strategies.
Up to 6 million people currently (in IPC Phase 4) could face increased food insecurity from February 2026.
Nearly two million vulnerable people have already lost access to vital protection services.
921,000 women and girls have already lost access to protection services against gender-based violence.
More than 450 health facilities have been affected by funding reductions and cannot provide comprehensive primary health care services.
2.2 million people risk losing support for safe water, hygiene and sanitation services in emergencies.
Are there certain sectors more affected than others by the lack of financing?
All sectors have been affected by funding cuts, with particularly serious gaps in food security and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, protection, shelter and non-food item interventions.
How has the international community responded to your recent calls to overcome the financial crisis?
Many donors have maintained their support for the humanitarian response in Yemen, or even slightly increased their support, and we are grateful for this solidarity.
However, we are far from the funding levels we need to save lives at scale. There is no time to lose, every minute counts in the race to prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation. In one district of Hajjah governorate, a recent needs assessment found that children had died of starvation.
Humanitarian partners (the United Nations, international and local NGOs) have quickly mobilized interventions to address the situation in this region, but we expect to see more reports and more tragic deaths that could have been avoided if there had been a rapid and significant increase in funding.
Do you have alternative plans or new mechanisms to rely on to mitigate the severity of the crisis as donors decline?
The humanitarian community in Yemen is doing everything in its power to save as many lives as possible with the funding available to it. As part of this, we have prioritized our efforts to focus on the most important life-saving interventions for those who need them most.
This presents a huge challenge because it means millions of people are not getting the help they need. But that is the bitter truth caused by funding cuts.
Examples of how aid workers are adapting due to funding cuts:
Last month, food security partners launched a high priority response plan, prioritizing urgent interventions in areas with the highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition. This plan targets 8.8 million people and requires $1.42 billion.
Since the plan focuses on the most affected areas, this means that 2.3 million people facing severe food insecurity will not receive assistance.
This builds on the broader humanitarian response priority plan, released in May, requesting $1.42 billion to provide the most urgent life-saving interventions to more than 10 million people.
We are accelerating the allocation of funds through the Yemen Humanitarian Fund, which directs donor funds to urgent and life-saving interventions, particularly through local partners.
OCHA announced on August 12 that a new allocation of $20 million would be finalized in the coming weeks to support urgent food security interventions.
We continue to call for an urgent increase in funding. We understand that there are many serious crises in the world, but the international community cannot abandon Yemen.
Besides lack of funding, what are the main challenges facing OCHA teams and partners in reaching those in need?
Funding gaps represent the biggest challenge to the humanitarian response in Yemen, but they are not the only challenge. Humanitarian actors across the country still face other problems.
Dozens of staff from the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations remain detained by the de facto authorities. We also continue to face restrictions on humanitarian access, including active conflicts, incidents of violence against aid workers, humanitarian goods and facilities, and administrative barriers.
We are on the eve of August 19, “World Humanitarian Day,” an opportunity to honor humanitarian workers who have been killed or injured in the line of duty and to call for their protection and that of the people they serve.
Aid workers should not be a target, in Yemen, Sudan, Gaza and anywhere else in the world.
Source: Al Jazeera
Yemen