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3. Humanitarian Crisis: The Yemeni Population Overlooked by the International Community

After more than a decade of conflict, Yemen is mired in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Malnutrition, epidemics and water shortages persist, with nearly half of the population facing “food insecurity,” according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and 80% relying on humanitarian aid to survive.

The situation could further deteriorate. According to the IMF, Yemen’s economy is expected to worsen in 2025, while the United Nations predicts that between 2024 and 2025, an additional one million people will require humanitarian assistance.

Another concern is the suspension of USAID funding announced by Donald Trump at the end of January. As a result, many NGOs will be forced to reduce or even halt their operations on the ground, which represents a real catastrophe for the local population.

With the increasing number of global crises and a growing indifference from the international community, funding from previous years was already struggling to meet the enormous needs. In May 2024, the UN reported that only $435 million of the $2.7 billion requested in the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan had been raised.

Increasingly Difficult Humanitarian Access

The war has directly led to Yemen’s division into several unstable regions. In the north, the Houthi movement controls the territory, including the capital, Sana’a. In the south, the Presidential Leadership Council’s loyalist forces, along with the Southern Transitional Council around Aden, hold power. This territorial fragmentation severely complicates the efforts of humanitarian organizations, which must secure permits to operate in each area. Additionally, nearly 4.8 million Yemenis have been displaced during the conflict, further increasing the population’s vulnerability.

“Aid organizations, including the ICRC, in Yemen face numerous challenges due to the ongoing conflict, including access, security risks, cuts to aid, and logistical difficulties,” confirms Iscander Saeed the ICRC Yemen spokesperson, in an interview with This is Beirut. This view is shared by Stephen Bisits, country director Yemen at Solidarités International, “Broadly speaking, humanitarian work in Yemen remains challenging. In particular, there are ongoing detentions of humanitarian workers in Sanaa and other access difficulties which makes the aid assistance less impactful.”

While some NGOs, such as the ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), manage to operate in both the north and the south, others struggle to secure the necessary authorizations, particularly in Houthi-controlled areas. In the south, security risks are the main obstacle to NGO operations. Yet, the population’s needs are immense: at least 7.4 million people suffer from malnutrition, including 2.4 million children.

“Ten years into the armed conflict, the population has largely exhausted its capacity to cope, the economy is on the brink of collapse and much of the country’s essential infrastructure has reached a breaking point. Electricity and water networks have been damaged, destroyed, heavily mined or fallen into disrepair,” explains Saeed. Access to water, in particular, remains one of the most pressing challenges for the population’s survival.

A Widespread Drought

Yemen is facing one of the world’s worst water crises, driven by climate change and recurring droughts. Groundwater levels continue to decline, and the 2024 rainy season brought severe flooding across the country, further worsening living conditions for the population.

Access to water has become a critical issue and a source of conflict for all warring parties, especially as the war has destroyed most of the country’s water distribution infrastructure. Estimates suggest that several of Yemen’s groundwater reserves could be depleted within the next 10 to 15 years.

“Water is at the heart of so much of the suffering we see in Yemen: children stunted from malnutrition, elderly people dying from cholera, and families unable to cook food safely,” says Bisits. “Some villages are unable to stay in their ancestral home because the water has dried up, and more and more communities cannot make a living because of changing rainfall patterns,” he adds.

In the long term, access to water could exacerbate tensions between Yemeni tribes, potentially leading to a new phase of the conflict. Women particularly suffer from this situation, as they are often forced to travel long distances every day to collect water, hindering their access to education.

A Collapsing Healthcare System

As a direct consequence of the lack of access to water, epidemics such as Covid-19 and malaria are spreading across the country. In 2017, Yemen experienced the largest cholera outbreak ever recorded, with over one million people affected and at least 3,000 deaths. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes from preventable diseases.

Only half of the healthcare facilities are still operational, and hospitals face critical shortages of medicine and delayed staff salaries. “We have several hospitals, particularly in the north, that are functioning well and remain operational,” says Marc Schakal, head of MSF’s Yemen program. “Unfortunately, the only hospitals still operational today are those supported by MSF or other organizations, depending on their available resources,” he adds.

Without this support, the healthcare system is at risk of further deterioration, limiting access to care for the population and facilitating the spread of epidemics. “We are particularly concerned about overall health, especially the health of children with pediatric issues,” says Schakal. “The most vulnerable populations are undoubtedly children and women. In pediatrics, vaccination coverage in the north of the country is very low, and there are barriers to vaccination, leading to recurring measles outbreaks and all the complications associated with measles: malnutrition and other related issues.”

Maternity services that remain operational are under significant pressure as hygiene and care products for young mothers and children are becoming increasingly scarce. The elderly and those with disabilities are also among the most vulnerable. Furthermore, the widespread presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance poses an ongoing threat to the civilian population, particularly children.

While NGOs are doing their best to address the population's needs, the announcement by the United States to cut 92% of USAID's foreign aid funding is expected to deal a near-fatal blow to humanitarian assistance in Yemen.