How to help the crisis in Yemen

In 2026, the United Nations estimates that 23.1 million Yemenis will require some basic form of humanitarian aid — more than 65% of the population. This is the highest level of need since 2022, and represents an 18% increase compared to last year.

Needs are highest around food security (18 million) and protection assistance (16 million), as well as among internally-displaced communities.

Learn more about the crisis in Yemen.

As of 2026, Yemen represents the fifth-largest internal displacement crisis in the world. Escape routes from the country are mostly on water, which has led to tragic losses of life as desperate civilians have attempted to flee. Between 4.5 and 4.8 million civilians — 80% of whom are women and children — are instead internally displaced, many living in informal settlements with inadequate infrastructure and few resources. These camps are often close to conflict zones, leaving many of the most vulnerable people at the greatest risk for violence.

Living conditions in IDP camps present their own challenges, including access to clean water, functioning health facilities, and environmental risks like sandstorms. As of 2025, 40% of IDP sites were also at high risk for fire and/or flooding. Even for internally-displaced Yemenis living outside of these sites, accessing adequate sanitation remains a challenge — and over 300,000 people were at high risk of eviction due to unaffordable rent.

According to the IPC, which monitors famine risk and food security levels around the world, over 18 million people will require some form of emergency food assistance between September 2025 and February 2026. This is a critical high for the country’s hunger crisis, which has been deepened by conflict, climate shocks, and economic instability.

The effects are hardest on Yemen’s predominantly young population. 2.5 million children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished, and nearly half of all Yemeni children are chronically malnourished. Additionally, 1.3 million pregnant and lactating women are malnourished, a condition that can affect both their own lives and those of their children.

Learn more about the hunger crisis in Yemen.

Healthcare is difficult to access for displaced and non-displaced Yemenis alike, with supplies and medications difficult to come by and many facilities being forced to close in the last year. This has left over 8.4 million people in need of critical support.

Yemen is also the site of one of the world’s largest water crises, with conflict-related closures furthering water scarcity in the country’s desert and arid regions. The UN reports that the per capita share of renewable water resources in the country is just 80 cubic meters per year, a fraction of the threshold for water stress (1,000 cubic meters).

This means that families don’t have enough clean water for drinking and cooking, farmers are unable to properly cultivate their land (in a country that relies heavily on agriculture), and communities lack adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities — especially in displacement camps. This scarcity has knock-on effects for health and safety.

In 2022, when humanitarian need in Yemen was at 23.5 million, the UN targeted 17.9 million people for assistance. With a comparable level of need in 2026, the UN has only been able to prioritize 10.5 million people due to funding shortages and cuts.

This is a very common side effect of crisis fatigue, which happens when emergency situations become more protracted and harder to resolve. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable people are left to carry the greatest burden of these shortfalls. The last year of cuts left the UN's humanitarian response plan for Yemen less than 25% funded and millions of people left without critical lifesaving support.

”Yemen is nearing a humanitarian breaking point,” writes the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Without urgent action, the individual factors of this crisis will worsen, leaving the most vulnerable people to pay the highest price.