Middle East and North Africa

Yemen

Two brothers walk together in Aden, Yemen.
Two brothers walk together in Aden, Yemen. Their family was forced to flee Al Hodeidah at the beginning of the conflict. Photo: OCHA/YPN
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In 2025, people in Yemen face a deepening humanitarian crisis. More than 19 million people require humanitarian assistance, with women and girls, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees among the most affected. Drastic funding cuts are forcing aid agencies to substantially scale back critical programming, leaving millions of people without life-saving support. Ongoing conflict, economic crisis, climate shocks and disease outbreaks continue to fuel humanitarian needs, while the escalation in the Red Sea and air strikes have resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties since the beginning of 2025 and damaged critical infrastructure. Humanitarian organizations are also grappling with other significant challenges, including the ongoing detention of humanitarian personnel by the de facto authorities, the effect of the recent United States designation of Ansarallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and persistent access impediments. 

Without urgent action, including a reversal in current funding trends, Yemen will experience a devastating acceleration in humanitarian needs. An estimated 6 million more people risk falling into emergency food insecurity, with pockets of famine poised to emerge in the coming months. Health systems are on the verge of collapse, with more than 770 facilities at risk of closure, cutting off primary and secondary care for nearly 7 million people. Nearly 2 million people face critical gaps in protection services, and more than 1.3 million children could be forced to drop out of school. The country’s rainy season – March to April and again between June and October – is expected to trigger flooding and surges in waterborne diseases. In 2024, Yemen accounted for a quarter of global cholera cases.

Despite operational and funding constraints, humanitarian actors remain on the ground and are delivering assistance to the most vulnerable communities across the country. Over the first three months of 2025, more than 130 aid organizations reached more than 4 million people on average with humanitarian and protection assistance.

In response to unprecedented funding cuts and to maximize the impact of life-saving aid for communities in need, humanitarian partners have taken significant steps aligned with the global Humanitarian Reset. The Humanitarian Country Team has reprioritized the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and now requires US$1.4 billion to focus on the most urgent lifesaving interventions for 8.8 million people. Efforts are also underway to implement a more streamlined, field-driven humanitarian architecture focused on a one-country approach; generate cost efficiencies to maximize funding for communities and strengthen a risk-informed approach to programming; and advance localization by increasing support to Yemeni partners, shifting decision-making closer to affected communities.

Overview of the humanitarian response in Yemen

For a full overview of the humanitarian response, visit humanitarianaction.info
Total population
34.9M 2025
People in need
19.5M 2025
Total requirements (USD)
2.5B 2025
Funding coverage (%)
10.93 2025
Funding gap (USD)
2.2B 2025

Top 5 donors

United Kingdom, Government of
$52.7 million
European Commission
$39.2 million
Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of), Government of
$33.8 million
Germany, Government of
$25.8 million
United States of America, Government of
$24.4 million

Top 5 funded sectors

Food Security and Agriculture
$55.7 million
Health
$44.9 million
Protection
$36.7 million
Refugees and Migrants Multisector
$22.3 million
Not specified
$20.6 million

The Yemen Humanitarian Fund

The Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) which was established in 2015, is a rapid and flexible funding mechanism supporting national and international NGOs and UN agencies, to respond to the most pressing or critical emergencies in a fast-changing environment. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, the YHF supports the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs defined in the Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.

Top 5 donors

Netherlands
$10.5 million (paid)
Ireland
$6.6 million (pledged)
Saudi Arabia
$3 million (pledged)
Canada
$2.8 million (paid)
Norway
$0.5 million (paid)

Resources

Yemen

Situation Report

Yemen Humanitarian Update: Issue 9, December 2024 [EN/AR]

2024 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response: A Year In Review 2024 was another trying year for the people of Yemen. As the country moved into its tenth year of conflict, more than half the country’s...

Originally published
Source
  • UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Read more

Yemen

Situation Report

Yemen Humanitarian Update: Issue 8, November 2024 [EN/AR]

HUMANITARIAN PARTNERS IN YEMEN SCALE UP CASH ASSISTANCE In recent years, cash and voucher assistance (CVA) has become an increasingly popular assistance modality in humanitarian action – and Yemen is...

Originally published
Source
  • UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Read more

Funding for OCHA Yemen

Total requirements (USD)
12.9M 2025
Opening balance (USD)
150.8K 2025
Earmarked funding (USD)
1.3M 2025
Total (USD)
1.3M 2025

Earmarked contributions

Canada
$0.4 million
Estonia
$0.1 million
Jersey
$0.1 million
Sweden
$0.7 million

Unearmarked contributions

  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom

Unearmarked contributions (or commitments) are those for which the donor does not require the funds to be used for a specific project, sector, crisis or country, leaving OCHA to decide how to allocate the funds.

Opening balance may include unearmarked and earmarked funding with implementation dates beyond the calendar year, and excludes miscellaneous income (e.g. adjustments, gain/losses on exchange rate etc.)

Funding information from the OCHA Contributions Tracking System.