The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, as fighting in Yemen continues and the toll on civilians rises, relief efforts are struggling to keep up with the growing needs and supplies are running low. Although the UN and its partners are ramping up support for displaced families and those in need, the relief response is facing ongoing funding shortages and access limitations.
Since early September, conflict has significantly intensified between the Ansar Allah Movement — also known as the Houthis — and Yemen's internationally recognized government across the West Coast, particularly in the Taiz and Al Hodeidah governorates. Major confrontations have been reported in Maqbanah, Mawza, Al Mokha, and surrounding frontline districts.
The escalating fighting has triggered large-scale displacement, intensified humanitarian needs, and heightened concerns about protecting civilians and ensuring humanitarian access. Thousands of families have been forced to flee, placing further strain on overstretched host communities and response capacities.
According to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 130,000 people, or more than 21,500 households, have been displaced across seven Yemeni governorates as of Monday, fleeing escalating insecurity.
Meanwhile, also on Monday, OCHA stressed that this figure is expected to rise as registration continues and that displaced families urgently need support for food and shelter.
Monday's update from the IOM shows that Taiz Governorate hosts the largest number of displaced people, at 73,494. Lahj follows with 33,828; then, Aden with 8,946; and Al Hodeidah with 8,244. Abyan, Hadramawt, and Marib have also received new arrivals.
“These are families who have lost their homes and their income,” said Othman Belbeisi, the IOM's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a statement on Monday.
“They are arriving in towns that were already struggling. Host communities are sharing the little they have, but they cannot do it alone. We need support now, for the people who have fled and for those who are taking them in."
In addition to the internally displaced people (IDPs) in Yemen, thousands more have sought safety in Djibouti by crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with most arrivals reported in Obock, Khor Angar, Moulhoule, and Godoria. As of Sunday evening, more than 3,100 people had crossed the Red Sea into Djibouti.
“At the reception centers, the new arrivals recount fleeing sudden bombardment, shelling, gunfire and having to fear for their lives; mothers quickly gathering their children and whatever they can,” Sandrine Desamours, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Representative in Djibouti, told journalists in Geneva on Friday.
“We saw them arrive with very little, some arriving without their family members. And others are also arriving for the second time, having already fled Yemen during the 2015 crisis.”
The conflict between a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf countries and the ousted government of Yemen against the Ansar-Allah movement escalated in 2015 as Saudi Arabia began in March airstrikes against the Houthi and Houthi-affiliated forces. The protracted armed conflict in Yemen has continued for more than ten years.
Since August 1, 2026, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has verified 125 civilian casualties in 36 incidents, including 32 deaths and 93 injuries. In September, more than 80 percent of the casualties were women and children. As these are only the verified figures, the real toll is likely much higher.
Health workers are paying a heavy price. On Friday, ambulances were attacked in the Lahj Governorate, killing a driver and an emergency medical responder. Nine health facilities have been damaged, closed, or attacked directly in the governorates of Taiz and Lahj, as well as in the city of Al Hodeidah. Hospitals treating the injured are running low on blood, anesthetics, and surgical supplies.
Women and girls have historically faced high levels of risk in Yemen, especially pregnant women, who have extremely limited access to healthcare. Three women die every day in Yemen due to pregnancy complications or childbirth. The current escalation in conflict has amplified these risks.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that more than 2,700 pregnant women are among the displaced, 300 of whom are expected to give birth within the next two weeks. At least 500 of these women need emergency obstetric or newborn care. However, key emergency obstetric facilities have closed in Taiz, forcing displaced women to give birth outdoors without skilled care.
According to OCHA, in response to the emergency, humanitarian organizations have provided nearly 13,000 displaced households with rapid response kits and other urgent assistance. Surgical supplies and antibiotics have been delivered to four hospitals in the cities of Aden and Marib by the World Health Organization (WHO).
On Monday, OCHA once again called on the warring parties to protect civilians — including health workers — and ambulances, as well as to facilitate the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
On Friday, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized that "Yemeni civilians are already bearing the consequences of renewed full-scale hostilities" and urged all parties to the conflict, as well as those who influence them, to "act immediately to de-escalate, protect civilians, and facilitate humanitarian access."
“Preventing further loss of life must take precedence,” said Shabia Mantoo, OHCHR spokesperson.
Some 22 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian aid
The military escalation comes at a time when hunger, malnutrition, loss of resilience, and collapsing humanitarian funding have already pushed millions of Yemenis deeper into crisis. An estimated 22.3 million people need humanitarian assistance
Currently, over half of the total population—approximately 18 million people—are experiencing severe food insecurity. Yemen's nutrition crisis is also one of the worst in the world. More than 2.5 million children under five, as well as 1.3 million pregnant or breastfeeding women, are acutely malnourished. Nearly half of all children under five are stunted.
Furthermore, 40 percent of the country's health facilities are nonfunctional or partially functional, severely limiting the capacity for malnutrition screening and treatment. As the health system continues to collapse, an estimated 19.3 million people require urgent healthcare. Years of declining funding have left healthcare facilities with limited capacity to handle a new wave of conflict.
Yemen's ongoing emergency is set against the backdrop of continued fragmentation and conflict among multiple factions. These factions include the Houthi rebels, who control the capital city of Sanaa and large areas in the north and west; the internationally recognized government, based in Aden; and various armed groups that control different parts of the country.
Having already endured more than a decade of conflict, Yemen is now on the brink of sustained, large-scale fighting, which will have severe consequences for civilians and further complicate the already difficult path toward a political settlement.
Unresolved conflict and climate-related disasters have already forced millions of people from their homes. Yemen is experiencing the world's fifth-largest internal displacement crisis, with over 5 million people displaced within the country. IDPs, refugees, and migrants are among the most vulnerable.