Major funding cuts and shrinking humanitarian access are pushing Yemen closer to a catastrophic health and hunger crisis, with aid organizations warning that millions of people are at immediate risk due to aid agencies' inability to provide lifesaving support. These warnings come as Yemen continues to suffer from one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises.
On Monday, Concern Worldwide, a humanitarian organization operating in Yemen, released a statement emphasizing that global funding restrictions are forcing aid agencies "to scale back or suspend critical services at a time when needs are rapidly escalating."
"Conditions for people in Yemen are deteriorating year after year, and the impact of global funding cuts has been particularly severe in Yemen," said Victor Moses, Concern Worldwide's country director for Yemen.
"Health, nutrition, protection, water, and sanitation services are among the hardest hit."
An estimated 22.3 million people, out of Yemen's population of 35 million, are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2026. The conflict-ravaged nation is also grappling with economic collapse and recurring climate disasters, such as floods and sandstorms, which have left its health infrastructure severely compromised.
Acute hunger and health collapse
Half of Yemen's population is facing hunger, and nearly two-thirds of households are unable to meet their minimum food needs.
Food insecurity has reached emergency levels across the country. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, over 18 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity. Of those, 5.8 million are facing emergency-level hunger (IPC Phase 4) — the largest number of people facing IPC 4 globally.
Furthermore, an estimated 40,000 people are estimated to face famine conditions (IPC Phase 5).
The humanitarian situation is further compounded by an acute economic collapse and escalating regional instability. Forecasts predict that inadequate food consumption could potentially exceed 60 percent by the end of June.
Meanwhile, Yemen's nutrition crisis is one of the worst in the world. 2.5 million children under five and 1.3 million pregnant or breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished. Nearly half of all children under five are stunted.
The health system continues to collapse. With two out of five facilities nonfunctional, 19.3 million people require urgent healthcare. This includes approximately 662,000 pregnant women who need life-saving services, 340,000 of whom require emergency obstetric care.
Funding cuts have drastically reduced the capacity to provide healthcare, resulting in a reported 63 percent decrease in nutrition services alone and the closure of over 450 health facilities last year.
Large-scale outbreaks of cholera, measles, dengue, and polio continue to plague Yemen, and fuel shortages and medicine stockouts due to cuts in humanitarian aid funding further undermine services. Aid agencies stress that these outbreaks are preventable and driven by low immunization coverage, displacement, limited access to healthcare, and unsafe water and sanitation.
Approximately 14.4 million people need assistance with water, sanitation, and hygiene, especially as climate-related shocks, including flooding and extreme weather, intensify the risk of disease transmission and damage fragile health infrastructure.
Aid agencies are scaling back support
Surging needs, massive funding cuts, and limited humanitarian access are forcing aid agencies to make difficult decisions, leaving millions without urgent relief. Last year, only 28.5 percent of the humanitarian appeal for Yemen was funded, forcing aid agencies to reduce life-saving support.
The 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) requests US$2.16 billion to support approximately 12 million people nationwide, with a focus on 9.4 million individuals in the most severe areas. However, as of today, only 13 percent of the HNRP is funded, with $281 million received.
Aid workers warn that surging needs combined with major donors' drastic cuts to funding mean organizations continue to struggle to maintain critical services.
"These cuts are exacerbating the suffering of already incredibly vulnerable populations, leading to irreversible humanitarian impacts and setting back hard-won gains in recent years," said Concern's Moses, noting that his organization continues to receive funding from its donors and supporters.
This "means we’re able to continue supporting people with essential health and nutrition services," he added.
Concern Worldwide continues its work in two of the most severely impacted regions, focusing on women and children under five. The organization provides critical health and nutrition care across 13 facilities and engages a network of community health volunteers. It reports working in areas where Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) exceeds 30 percent, an indicator of famine risk.
Political context and forced displacement
The ongoing crisis in Yemen is set against the backdrop of continued fragmentation and conflict among multiple actors. These include the Ansar Allah movement (Houthis), who control the capital, Sanaa, and large areas in the north and west; the internationally recognized government, which is based in Aden; and various armed groups, who control different parts of the country.
Over ten years ago, the conflict between the Houthis and Yemen's ousted government, alongside a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf countries, escalated when Saudi Arabia began launching airstrikes against the Houthis and their affiliated forces in 2015.
This conflict has forced millions of people from their homes. Yemen remains home to the fifth-largest internal displacement crisis globally, with over 5.2 million people displaced within the country. Internally displaced people, along with refugees and migrants, are among those who are most vulnerable.