Yemen aid response buckling under funding cuts as needs keep rising

Yemen’s 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is just 25 percent funded, forcing agencies to cut back life-saving services across all sectors even as needs get worse, according to an update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Health and protection services have been hit especially hard, leaving vulnerable communities at greater risk.

The health system, already weakened by years of conflict and underinvestment, is “on the brink,” the report said. Since January last year, 453 health facilities have faced partial or imminent closure across 22 governorates—hospitals, primary health centers and mobile clinics. These disruptions come as widespread food insecurity, malnutrition, unsafe water and sanitation, and recurring disease outbreaks continue. Cuts are affecting both areas controlled by the internationally recognized government and those under the de facto Houthi authorities. Millions of people now have less access to basic healthcare, maternal services and emergency treatment.

Food security and nutrition remain major concerns. Partners have kept delivering assistance where they can, but reduced funding has limited coverage when many families are struggling to afford food or recover from climate shocks, including floods that hit Marib governorate earlier in 2025. A coordinated flood response there showed how cash assistance can help families recover faster, but these approaches need sustained resources.

Despite the bleak picture, OCHA highlighted the Yemen Humanitarian Fund, which has helped get limited resources to priority, life-saving work, and community-based projects that aim to restore dignity and resilience for displaced families. Yemen has been devastated by more than a decade of conflict between Houthi rebels and the Government of Yemen, following the Houthis’ takeover of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Large-scale fighting has eased in recent years, but tensions remain high and the risk of renewed fighting persists.

OCHA urged donors to step up support, warning that without urgent funding, more service closures are likely, with devastating consequences for Yemen’s most vulnerable people.