The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that Yemenis are silently suffering from hunger and malnourishment amid a severe lack of funding and ongoing insecurity that are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Yemen is one of the most food-insecure countries in the world and now has the highest number of people facing emergency levels of hunger.
“Food insecurity in Yemen is no longer a looming risk; it is a daily reality, forcing parents into impossible choices. Some parents have told us they have started collecting wild plants to keep their children fed while they sleep on an empty stomach,” said Caroline Sekyewa, the IRC’s Country Director in Yemen.
“Rising prices, the brunt of conflict and prolonged displacement are pushing households deeper into crisis.”
Yemen is experiencing one of the world's most severe hunger crises, where populations are at imminent risk of catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5). The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), FEWS NET, the Hunger Hotspots Report, and the Global Hunger Index all categorize Yemen as one of the most food-insecure countries worldwide.
According to the latest IPC analysis, over 18 million people are expected to experience acute food insecurity next month, including 5.8 million facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4). Additionally, 40,000 people are expected to face famine conditions (IPC Phase 5) in the coming months — the worst outlook for the country since 2022.
“Yemen’s food security crisis is not inevitable. Immediate, targeted donor action in the coming months can prevent widespread loss of life and help communities get back on their feet before emergency conditions escalate further,” Sekyewa said.
“IRC’s evidence shows that cash assistance remains one of the most effective ways to help families meet their food needs with dignity, protect their children, and avoid resorting to harmful ways for survival. It is not too late to prevent an even greater tragedy.”
Years of conflict and displacement have devastated livelihoods and severely restricted access to basic health and nutrition services. This has been compounded by a nationwide economic collapse that has eroded household purchasing power, as well as a sharp decline in humanitarian assistance.
More than ten years of armed conflict in Yemen have caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties and forced millions to flee their homes. Currently, Yemen is experiencing one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies.
In 2026, two-thirds of the country's population — an estimated 23.1 million people — are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, with the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women and girls, at the greatest risk.
Yemen's nutrition crisis is one of the worst in the world. Currently, 2.5 million children under the age of five and 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished. Nearly half of all children under five are stunted. Some 600,000 children are severely malnourished, a condition that threatens their lives, with mortality rates 11 times higher than those of healthy children.
The IRC emphasizes that the deterioration in Yemen is not due to an escalation of large-scale conflict, but rather the result of a collapse in household purchasing power and a sharp decrease in humanitarian assistance in 2025, which has dismantled food security, nutrition, and surveillance systems while needs are peaking.
As food security and nutrition surveillance systems collapse, the true scale of hunger is masked. Data gaps widen, needs go undocumented, and assistance is not triggered. Preventable deaths risk going unseen.
“People of Yemen still remember when they didn’t know where their next meal would come from. I fear we are returning to this dark chapter again. What distinguishes the current deterioration is its speed and trajectory,” Sekyewa said.
The IRC stresses that this rapid deterioration — also driven by recent insecurity and climate shocks — calls for urgent action to reverse the unfolding catastrophe.
Last year, Yemen's humanitarian response was hit by an unprecedented funding shortfall. As of January 2026, only 28 percent of the US$2.47 billion requested in the 2025 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan had been received.
This collapse in funding forced aid agencies to scale back critical services despite mounting needs, with devastating consequences: millions of people were left without essential care and exposed to life-threatening risks.
Yemenis, especially children, are dying from a lack of food, nutritional support, and life-saving health services. According to the United Nations, more than 2,500 supplementary feeding programs and outpatient therapeutic programs have been forced to close due to funding cuts.
The country's health sector continues to collapse. Over 450 health facilities have faced partial or imminent closure, impacting hospitals, primary health centers, and mobile clinics in 22 governorates and leaving 8.4 million people with limited access to basic care. The UN estimates that 2,300 clinics risk losing funding, which would leave millions without access to life-saving care.
Last week, a high-ranking official from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) urged the UN Security Council to increase funding for the ongoing crisis and not consign the people of Yemen to the margins when they desperately need more support.
Ramesh Rajasingham, head of OCHA Geneva, also noted that Yemen’s humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate. He underscored that needs are rising, access is contracting, and funding has not kept pace, adding that the result is that millions of Yemenis are not receiving the aid they need to survive.
“We know that when humanitarian organizations can operate safely, effectively and in a principled manner, and when resources are available, humanitarian assistance works. It reduces hunger, it prevents disease, and it saves lives. But when access is obstructed and funding falls away, those gains are quickly reversed,” Rajasingham said.
Further information
Full text: Starving in Silence: Surging Food Insecurity in Yemen, International Rescue Committee (IRC), report, released January 19, 2026
https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/2026-01/IRC%20Yemen%20-%20Food%20Security%20Policy%20Briefing%20-%20January%202026%20Final.pdf