Yemen is currently facing a worsening humanitarian situation which could destabilize the country's gains on the political front, a U.N. official warned on Thursday noting that half of the country's 24 million people are in need of assistance.
"There will be no political transition if we don't deal with the humanitarian situation," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, U.N. Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told a news conference in Geneva.
Yemen has been undergoing a democratic transition led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, who came to power in a February 2012 election. A major milestone was achieved in March last with the opening of the national dialogue conference that will feed into a Constitution-making process and pave the way for general elections in 2014.
While the political transition is on track, Ahmed warned that this process could "collapse" unless the "dramatic" humanitarian situation is addressed.
According to him, ten million people in Yemen are in need of food aid, of which about five million were faced with acute food shortage; six million people do not have access to health care; and one million children are facing malnutrition, with some 150,000 of them facing the risk of death due to acute malnutrition.
The impoverished country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula is also grappling with over 340,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), most of them uprooted from their homes due to fighting in the country's north and south, he said.
Besides, some 25,000 migrants - mainly from Ethiopia - are also facing various hardships, with a large number falling victim to violence and other inhuman treatment by human traffickers. Other problems include gender-based violence and the recruitment of children by armed groups.
The international humanitarian community has sought $716 million for the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan to provide emergency and early recovery assistance to 7.7 million of the country's most vulnerable. However, the plan is so far only 28 percent funded.
"We are still in need of major assistance if we would like to deal with this situation, which as I said, in my view, is quite dramatic," Ahmed said.
Humanitarian agencies would like to provide water and sanitation for three million people inside Yemen; food for over seven million; and health care services for 4.2 million. In addition, agencies are aiming to assist 622,000 children to get education and provide services for 1.4 million people in terms of protection services, including 500,000 children.
Ahmed warned that the state of malnutrition in Yemen is "extremely grave," and added that U.N. agencies are targeting 700,000 children this year for nutrition interventions.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.