Only a fraction of the funds needed to provide aid to millions of people in the war-torn country are secured, the groups say.
Dozens of aid groups have called for more funding from donors to meet Yemen's urgent humanitarian needs, warning that inaction would lead to “catastrophic consequences” for the people of the war-torn country.
In a joint statement released Monday, 188 humanitarian organizations, including United Nations agencies, said they had secured only $435 million of the $2.7 billion needed to provide crucial assistance, warning of threats such as food shortages and disease.
“Lack of funding poses a challenge to the continuity of humanitarian programming, causing delays, reductions and suspensions of life-saving assistance programs,” the statement said, warning that 18.2 million people – more than half of the population – needed help after more than nine years of war.
Extreme needs despite relative calm
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when Houthi rebels seized large parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa. The situation escalated in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates formed a US-backed military coalition in an attempt to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
A UN-brokered truce in 2022 has reduced hostilities, but humanitarian needs remain dire. Meanwhile, recent Houthi attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea in protest against Israel's war on Gaza and US retaliatory strikes threaten to shatter the relative calm.
A shrinking economy, deteriorating public services, low-intensity violence and vulnerabilities to climate change continue to drive humanitarian crises in the country, according to the aid groups' statement, adding that nursing women, older people and children are particularly vulnerable to increasing levels of food scarcity. .
The spread of cholera in the current rainy season, as well as unexploded ordnance that has caused deaths and injuries, are also serious concerns, the groups said, noting that Yemen is a country “at a crossroads.”
“We cannot ignore the significant humanitarian needs that persist and cannot be addressed without adequate funding to respond,” the statement said.
With a population of 33 million, Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Hundreds of thousands have died in war or from indirect causes such as lack of food, according to the UN.
In March, NGOs warned that two in five Yemeni children are out of school, while more than 17 million people – half of them children – need healthcare.
Monday's call to boost the country's 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan came a day before a meeting of senior European Union officials in Brussels to discuss aid to the country.
