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.”
• In Yemen, 17 million people are food insecure, including 3.5 million people that are acutely malnourished. At the end of February 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) had received just 29% of the funding needed for April-September 2023. A lack of funding from donors is a significant challenge in meeting the significant humanitarian needs in Yemen.
• According to UNOCHA, “Up to 540,000 children could die due to severe acute malnutrition if not treated.”
• Food prices rose over 2022, driven by the continued depreciation of the Yemeni Rial and rising global prices stemming from the crisis in Ukraine. The cost of the minimum food basket increased by 42% in DFA-controlled areas and 27% in IRG-held areas compared to 2021. However, there are signs in 2023 that prices are starting to come down in both IRG-controlled areas and areas under Sana’a-based authorities.
• An estimated 4.5 million people in Yemen are displaced, most of whom have been displaced multiple times over a number of years.
• 12.9 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 the fragile health system is overburdened and edging closer to collapse.
• 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.

The 2023 HRP says, “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.

An estimated 1.65 million IDPs live in around 2,431 displacement sites in sub-standard living conditions. “Durable shelter solutions for those in displacement sites and in areas of return are minimal due to the focus on the emergency response, the scale of housing destruction, and other house, land and property issues.”

Discriminatory societal attitudes towards women’s movement and economic and social engagement remain entrenched. In the 2021 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, Yemen was ranked in the bottom five countries regarding women’s economic participation, political empowerment and educational attainment.

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.”

An estimated 8.6 million school-aged children require 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.

Food insecurity is one of the most significant challenges for Yemenis, driven by economic challenges, climate change and price increases for diesel and food imports. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 17 million people in Yemen experienced acute food insecurity between October and December 2022. 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).

Among the 17 million people that are acutely food insecure in Yemen, 3.5 million are acutely malnourished. WFP is facing funding shortfalls for multiple activities meaning most WFP activities are implemented at reduced levels, affecting millions of people.

The war in Ukraine resulted in global increases in commodity prices, raising threats to the already dire socioeconomic situation and food access. The cost of the minimum food basket increased by 42% in DFA-controlled areas and 27% in IRG-held areas compared to 2021.

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.”

The Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative data shows that food costs have proven consistently higher in the IRG than the DFA. Their February 2023 report revealed that prices of some staples decreased or stabilized but food vendors and water truckers face significant constraints.

According to the 2023 HRP, “Food insecurity is one of the key drivers of heightened protection risks, specifically child protection and gender-based violence (GBV) issues, forcing people into harmful negative coping mechanisms.”

Climatic shocks and disasters worsen the food insecurity situation in the country. Between January and June 2022, Yemen experienced moderate to severe drought conditions and an unprecedented rise in temperatures, affecting all cropped regions.

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

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.”

As of April 7, 2023, there were 11,945 confirmed COVID-19 cases, although this figure is likely larger because of under testing and inconsistent reporting. In October 2022, 64 cases of COVID-19 were officially confirmed, with one associated death, in the southern governorates. UNICEF said there is no COVID-19 vaccination and reporting in the northern part of Yemen.

In their summary report for July and August 2022, the WHO, along with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Health Cluster, identified that the “growing risk of famine and severe acute malnutrition” were among some of the most serious health-related concerns.

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.

A May 2023 update from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) reported that a review of vegetation conditions showed a favorable response to rainfall across much of the country, which is a good sign. However, the update also highlighted the damage that floods had done to irrigation infrastructure across the country’s main wadies.

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.