OCHA asks Security Council to save the legacy of Yemen's children and their families

Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen by Ramesh Rajasingham, Head of OCHA Geneva and Director of the Humanitarian Sector Division, on behalf of Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

  New York, 14 January 2026 

As delivered

Mr. President,

As we begin 2026, Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has further deteriorated: needs are rising, access is contracting, and funding has not kept pace. The result is that millions of Yemenis are not receiving the aid they need to survive.

Mr. President, 

I will turn first to the plight of civilians and the difficult operating environment for humanitarians before outlining the challenges ahead. Every Yemeni – no matter where they live – must have access to essential services and, where their needs remain unmet, humanitarian aid. But in reality, too many Yemenis are still cut off from vital assistance. 

In areas held by the Houthi de facto authorities, the continued detention of 73 UN staff continues to severely restrict critical humanitarian work. I reiterate the Secretary-General's call for the de facto authorities to rescind the referral of UN colleagues to special criminal courts and to work in good faith toward the immediate release of all detained personnel of the UN, NGOs and diplomatic community.  

The unavoidable reality is that the United Nations must continue to reevaluate and reorganize our humanitarian operations on the ground in DFA-held areas of Yemen – home to around 70 per cent of humanitarian needs countrywide. We remain committed to supporting the people of Yemen where we can, including through continued support to our NGO partners on the ground. 

As ever, I thank the Special Envoy for his efforts to reinvigorate political discussions and support a path towards a negotiated political settlement led by the Yemeni people. 

Mr. President,

In the past month, the situation in the south of Yemen has been extremely volatile, uprooting families and disrupting civilian and humanitarian movement. We welcome the recent military de-escalation; the stabilization of the situation will bolster support for good governance and reduce disruptions that might otherwise push already fragile communities further into humanitarian need.

As the Secretary-General has warned, any further deterioration in security will worsen Yemen’s already dire humanitarian needs, triggering more displacement and cutting millions more off from life-saving assistance. 

Mr. President,

As I noted at the outset, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening, particularly in the critical areas of food security, nutrition and healthcare – all issues OCHA has repeatedly raised in this Council.

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. 

Where conditions have allowed, our partners continue to deliver. In Government-controlled areas, WFP has maintained food assistance in two-month cycles, reaching almost 3.5 million people in late 2025. During the recent flooding, more than 27,000 families received emergency assistance within weeks. Coordinated responses in Marib also demonstrated the effectiveness of cash assistance, helping families recover more quickly from floods. 

But when access is obstructed and funding falls away, those gains are quickly reversed.

More than 18 million Yemenis – or half the population – will face acute food insecurity next month. They will be hungry – tens of thousands catastrophically so, facing famine-like conditions. This is worse than one year ago, with at least one million additional people now hungry. Women and girls are hit hardest, often eating last and least. 

Nearly half of Yemen’s children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, but funding shortfalls last year meant that only 2 million people out of the nearly 8 million targeted for critical nutrition interventions were reached. More than 2,500 supplementary feeding programmes and outpatient therapeutic programmes were forced to shutter. 

Mr. President, 

Yemen’s health system is collapsing. More than 450 health facilities have closed across both Houthi de facto authority and Government-controlled areas due to funding cuts.  

By the end of 2025, fewer than 60 per cent of the health facilities still operating were fully functional, including, for instance, providing basic emergency obstetric and newborn care. We estimate that 2,300 clinics risk losing funding, leaving millions without access to life-saving care.

Vaccination programmes are also under threat. Only two thirds of Yemen’s children are fully immunized, largely due to restrictions on campaigns in the north. As a result, millions of Yemeni children are vulnerable to deadly yet vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, diphtheria, cholera and polio. Last year, Yemen reported the highest caseload of measles cases in the world, one of the highest polio cases globally, and ranked among the top three countries globally for suspected cholera cases.

This is not the legacy the children of Yemen and their families deserve.

Despite these challenges, our partners working in health continue to save lives. With what funding and access they have, they supported more than 3,000 health facilities and carried out vaccination campaigns, reaching 2.2 million children in DFA-held areas with measles-rubella jabs and 1.4 million children in government-controlled areas with polio vaccines.

Our partners have responded to the cholera crisis, scaling up preparedness activities, training local health workers, delivering supplies to nearly 3,200 primary care facilities and supporting 15 life-saving treatment centres. 

Mr. President,

I will close by restating our asks for this Council. 

First, all Council Members must exert their influence and pressure to bring about the release of the 73 UN workers who remain held by the Houthi de facto authorities, along with the dozens of INGO, NGO, civil society and diplomatic corps employees and former employees. This deplorable situation cannot be allowed to persist. End this arbitrary detention, return these staff to their families and loved ones, and allow humanitarians to do their job safely and unimpeded for all those in need.

Second, step up funding to a crisis that shows no sign of lessening. Do not consign the people of Yemen to the margins at a time when they desperately need more, not less, support. 

And third and finally, maintain the unity that has served this Council so well on the issue of Yemen. Stay pragmatic and patient about the challenges ahead – and firm in defending the humanitarian values that guide us.

Thank you.