About five million people – or 47 percent of the population – are currently experiencing crises or worse levels of acute food insecurity (Phase 3 and above).
Meanwhile, another 1.4 million people are stuck in the “emergency” phase, with the number expected to rise as the year progresses.
“Families are pushed beyond their ability to cope by the combined effects of economic collapse, climate crises, disrupted livelihoods and diminished humanitarian support.”the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a joint statement.
hunger will increase
The lean season from June to September is expected to raise the number of people facing emergency conditions to 1.5 million.
Looking ahead, the post-harvest period from October to December 2026 is unlikely to bring any significant recovery and the number of people in emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4) is expected to rise further to 1.8 million.
Food insecurity remains a major cause of Yemen’s high malnutrition burden after more than a decade of war between the Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government.
Reduced dietary diversity, poor household food consumption, limited access to essential preventive nutrition services and worsening living conditions are increasing the risk of acute malnutrition, especially among pregnant and lactating women and young children.
Economic decline and aid cuts
Irregular wages, high food and fuel prices, reduced income opportunities, and constraints on agricultural production are limiting families’ ability to meet even basic food needs.
About 60 percent of Yemeni households depend, at least in part, on agriculture.However, crops are facing increasing pressure due to extreme weather, pest outbreaks and disruption to supply chains.
At the same time, humanitarian food assistance and humanitarian interventions in the areas of nutrition, health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are expected to increase. decline sharplyand because critical funding gapseliminating support at the time it is needed most.
A young child is tested for malnutrition at a clinic in Yemen.
Mobile devices reach underserved areas
In this context, WHO, in coordination with its local partners in Aden and Marib, is taking health care directly to people in displacement camps to respond to rising malaria risks.
In Al-Shaab camp in Aden, where many displaced families live in difficult conditions, health problems are part of daily life.
Overcrowding, poor environmental conditions and limited access to services increase the risks of malaria and other vector-borne diseases, especially for women and children.
For 21-year-old Abeer Abdulwarith Mohammed Saeed, the challenges are all too familiar. “Sometimes at night a child suddenly gets fever, diarrhea or vomiting and there are no emergency services available to us,” she said.
“If I, my husband or my children get sick, we cannot receive treatment due to our limited means.”he added.
‘We are healthy’
The teams are implementing a strategy, through mobile clinics that travel between the camps, to detect and diagnose cases early, especially in areas far from health services.
For Ms Saeed and her family, the mobile team’s visit brought peace of mind.
“The medical team helped us today with malaria and dengue tests for me and my children,” he said. “We waited for the results and thank God there was no malaria. we are healthy.”
Urgent funding needed
The main UN aid agencies involved are Calling on the international community to urgently increase funding for humanitarian food assistance, nutrition services, health, agriculture and resilience programming.
Without immediate, sustained and scaled-up action, millions of vulnerable people risk falling further into hunger, malnutrition and irreversible loss of their livelihoods.
