Yemen Humanitarian Crisis

• In 2023, the number of people in need has decreased slightly from 23.4 million people in 2022 to 21.6 million in 2023. The 2023 HRP says these changes are mainly due to technical modifications assessments and revised food security projections. “They do not reflect an across-the board improvement in the humanitarian outlook.”
• Yemen remains one of the most food-insecure countries in the world. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projects that the situation will worsen between June and December 2023.
• 17 million people are food insecure and in IPC Phases 3-4. 2.2 million children are malnourished.
• An estimated 4.5 million people in Yemen are displaced, most of whom have been displaced multiple times over a number of years.
• According to the 2023 HRP, “Natural hazards and disasters doubled related displacement in 2022, damaged public and civilian infrastructure and impacted delivery of essential services.” Heavy rains and flooding impacted more than 517,000 people in 2022 and led to over 160,000 new and secondary displacements between July and September 2022.
• Yemen has an INFORM Climate Change Risk Index for 2022 of 8.1, ranking third among the most vulnerable countries to climate change and least prepared for climate shocks, after Somalia and South Sudan.

According to FAO in June 2023 early warning bulletin for Yemen, “Droughts, floods, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, thus further compromising the stability of food systems. This is particularly detrimental to vulnerable communities that rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods and food supply.”

A cyclonic storm named Tej made landfall on the eastern Yemeni coast overnight between Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, 2023. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports more than 10,000 households have been affected in Socotra, Hadramawt and Al Maharah governorates. The cyclone damaged homes and impacted the agriculture and fishery sectors. Parts of Yemen, an ordinarily dry country, saw eight times the average yearly rainfall from Tej. The Al Ghaydah airport in Al Mahrah Governorate recorded 17 inches of rain.

In a report released on Oct. 4, 2022, entitled Risking the Future: Climate Change, Environmental Destruction, and Conflict in Yemen, the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) warned that “resource-based conflicts in Yemen will increase in the coming years as water and land continue to be depleted.”

In the report, CIVIC outlined the major climate change problems facing the country, particularly the ongoing drought and rapidly decreasing levels of groundwater. “Without consistent rainfall, there is not enough water to replenish in the face of heavy use and mismanagement.”

Unfortunately, the rains that arrived during summer 2022 were far more harmful than helpful. These destructive downpours brought flash flooding to at least 19 governates across the country – affecting almost 74,000 households and killing at least 72 people. In addition, these floods wreaked havoc on critical infrastructure including roads, farms, WASH facilities and electrical infrastructure.

According to the 2023 HRP, “Natural hazards and disasters doubled related displacement in 2022, damaged public and civilian infrastructure and impacted delivery of essential services.” Heavy rains and flooding impacted more than 517,000 people in 2022 and led to over 160,000 new and secondary displacements between July and September 2022.

The New Humanitarian reported in April 2023 that many displaced people affected by the 2022 floods received minimal support for relief in the immediate aftermath, and several months on, families continue to struggle with meeting their basic needs and recovery.

Around 50,000 displaced people in Marib City were once again affected by heavy winds and rains in March 2023. In early April 2023, torrential rains brought flash flooding that killed at least five people in Yemen’s Shabwa governorate. In June 2023, the Shelter Cluster reported that 39% of the families affected by flooding had received assistance.

Further compounding the hazards to Yemen’s natural resources is the FSO Safer, a supertanker carrying more than 1 million barrels of oil that ran aground outside the port of Al-Hudaydah in 2015. For the last seven years, it has been rusting away as its structure has been exposed to the moisture and salt with little to no maintenance.

Not only is the ship at risk of spilling its contents into the Red Sea – a catastrophe that would ruin coastlines and fisheries across the body of water – it is also at risk of exploding after inert air that usually inhibits an explosion dissipated over the years. A spill would also reduce or eliminate capacity at the port of Hodeidah, the main entry point for humanitarian aid, while also eroding fishing capabilities and livelihoods for millions of people along the coastline.

The United Nations had raised $75 million in September 2022 to salvage the FSO Safer and its contents. However, rising costs presented a new obstacle for the complex operation. In a rare bit of good news, in April 2023 the United Nations Development Programme purchased a ship that will serve as a replacement vessel for the FSO Safer. A Dutch firm has been contracted to extract the oil and move the FSO Safer to safety. A conference in May 2023 aimed to raise the remaining funds required.

In June 2023, the UN announced it had secured insurance coverage to start the transfer of oil from the FSO Safer, a critical milestone in the effort to prevent a major environmental disaster. On Aug. 11, 2023, the UN announced the operation safely concluded, preventing the immediate threat of a massive spill. Crowdsource funding played an important role in closing the funding gap.

The 2023 HRP said, “Many of the most vulnerable internally displaced people live in flood-prone areas or inadequate shelters, risking further increased needs and displacement. Continuing protracted displacement even with lower rates of new displacement, may well ensure Yemen remains among the top six largest internal displacements in the world.”

Natural hazards and disasters, in particular flooding, doubled related displacement in 2022, damaged infrastructure and impacted service delivery.

According to UNOCHA, “Children are significantly impacted by disrupted services and infrastructure, with 8.6 million school-aged children in need of education assistance due to conflict-related damage and disruption. More than 2,700 schools have been destroyed, partially damaged or utilized for non-educational purposes.”

Compounding the situation are the 2022 floods that affected around 368 schools, compromising the learning of nearly 1.5 million school-age children. Approximately 2.7 million children are out of school, and girls represent 47% of this figure. Protection considerations are critical for education actors to ensure children can safely access services without causing harm.

Despite some improvements, Yemen remains one of the most food-insecure countries in the world. The IPC projects that the situation will worsen between June and December 2023. The number of people in IPC Phase 3 or above is forecasted to increase by 20%, reaching 3.9 million people or 41% of the population. The main drivers of the deterioration include a projected 20% shortfall in humanitarian assistance, an anticipated increase in food and fuel prices and a continuation of conflict in frontline districts.

The IPC’s acute food insecurity scale is broken down into five phases: no or minimal (Phase 1), stressed (Phase 2), crisis (Phase 3), emergency (Phase 4), and catastrophe, famine or famine likely (Phase 5). Data is not always available which makes it difficult to identify some trends over time and the full picture of food insecurity in the country. The IPC analysis quoted above “covers 118 districts and areas under the control of the Government of Yemen, for which new food security and nutrition evidence was available.”

Inadequate food consumption levels continued to gradually decrease since September 2022. However, WFP’s March 2023 Yemen Food Security Update said “Approximately 52 percent of the surveyed families in IRG-controlled areas and 47 percent of those in areas under Sana’a-based authorities were unable to access an adequate diet during February 2023, still higher than reported levels during the same month last year of 47 percent and 43 percent, respectively.”

Food security and malnutrition in Yemen have primarily been an issue of affordability rather than availability of food. The food security situation would have been worse without the truce among conflicting parties and additional donor funding received in the second half of 2022.

The issue of food affordability continues to play out in 2023. Analysis from a multi-agency household survey found that, “Availability of food supplies does not seem to be an issue affecting people’s food security. The total amount of food available in Yemen is dependent on local production, commercial imports, humanitarian food assistance, and food stocks/reserves.” Displaced people, Muhamasheen and female-led households were cited by the survey respondents as the members of the community most affected by food insecurity.

The persistence of food insecurity in Yemen occurs against the backdrop of funding cuts. The WFP has been forced to reduce the assistance rations they distribute, providing only 40% of the standard food basket per cycle.

In August 2023, Richard Ragan, WFP’s Yemen Representative, said, “We are confronted with the incredibly tough reality of making decisions to take food from the hungry to feed the starving while millions of Yemenis continue to rely on us for survival. We do not take this decision lightly and are fully cognizant of the suffering these cuts will cause.”

Laila Baker, the UN Population Fund Arab states Regional Director, said in March 2023, “Today, there is practically no health care system. Hospitals, facilities and equipment have been destroyed, health workers have remained unpaid and left in droves. Today, a woman dies every two hours during pregnancy and childbirth from causes that are almost entirely preventable with access to services.”

Nearly 13 million Yemenis have urgent humanitarian healthcare needs, and 540,000 children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition. The dire health situation prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn in April 2023 that the fragile health system is overburdened and “edging closer to collapse.” 

Yemen’s 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview states, “The Health Resources and Services Availability Monitoring System, updated in 2022, reveals 49% of health facilities are either partially functional or non-functional due to staff, fund and power shortages, as well as lack of medicines, supplies and equipment. Long distance to health facilities, the unavailability of the required type of service and unaffordability are major obstacles for vulnerable households to receive quality health assistance.”

Discriminatory societal attitudes towards women’s movement and economic and social engagement remain entrenched. In the 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report, Yemen was ranked in the bottom five countries regarding women’s economic participation, political empowerment and educational attainment. Yemen was not covered in WEF’s 2022 report.

A study by Mwatana for Human Rights released on Aug. 30, 2022 found that incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) increased throughout the first seven years (the time period included in the study) of the conflict. The authors found that those who were victims or survivors of GBV were also systematically deprived of educational opportunities, which is particularly significant given the lack of educational opportunities within Yemen in 2022.

In 2023, 3.2 million people with disabilities need humanitarian assistance. Normative and implementation gaps in Yemen’s legal framework continue to diminish the protection of minority and marginalized groups, including women and girls and people with disabilities. An estimated 678,000 displaced people with disabilities experience compounding vulnerabilities and barriers to accessing aid. Along with people with disabilities, older people face stigma and social isolation, as well as an increased risk of being left behind and separated from their families and care providers during displacement. According to HelpAge International in a March 2023 update, older people are particularly affected by high prices of basic food items and “many older women are also limiting their food intake so that their children and grandchildren can eat more instead.”

The humanitarian crisis severely impacts children. According to the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), “The current humanitarian crisis in Yemen has increased the vulnerability of children and women to exploitation, violence and abuse, child labour, killing and maiming, recruitment and use of children by parties to the conflict as combatants and in various support roles, domestic and gender-based violence, child marriage and psychosocial distress.”