Yemen humanitarian crisis ‘sharply worsens’ as fighting displaces over 200,000: UN

Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has “sharply worsened” amid renewed fighting that has displaced more than 200,000 people since early August, a senior UN humanitarian official warned Friday, Anadolu reports.

Mohamed Yahya, assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, delivered the warning during a UN Security Council briefing on behalf of UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

“Today, I must warn the Council that Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has sharply worsened. Further inaction will cost lives,” Yahya said.

He said escalating fighting over the past two months had forced families already exhausted by more than a decade of conflict to flee their homes.

Many displaced families had depleted their savings, lost livelihoods and had few options for safety, he added.

According to Yahya, more than 200,000 people have been displaced across Yemen since early August, the highest level of new displacement since the 2022 truce.

Nearly 4,000 others have crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to seek safety in Djibouti and Somalia, he said.

Yahya warned that women and children were “paying the highest price” as the conflict intensified.

He cited figures from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights showing that at least 46 civilians had been killed and more than 130 injured since early August.

Yemen’s health system was being pushed “closer to collapse” as conflict-related casualties placed additional pressure on overstretched facilities, he said.

Yahya warned that inadequate resources would deepen the crisis, make recovery more difficult and costly, and leave vulnerable families less able to withstand future shocks.

– Children at ‘disproportionate risk’

Yahya stressed that a political solution was essential to preventing further suffering.

“Further fighting will have severe humanitarian consequences. It will displace more people and further restrict humanitarian access,” he said.

“The people of Yemen need more than our concern and our outrage. They need our collective action, our concrete support, and our unwavering commitment to deliver.”

Inger Ashing, chief executive officer of Save the Children International, also addressed the Security Council, warning that the escalation threatened children’s safety, education and well-being.

For too many children in Yemen, conflict had turned education from a pathway to opportunity into a refuge from danger, she said.

“Yemen is a country of tremendous vibrance and hope. This latest escalation risks reversing its fragile recovery,” Ashing said.

She warned that the country faced a “deadly convergence” of conflict, displacement, economic decline and a surge in infectious and waterborne diseases.

Ashing said children were at “disproportionate risk” from explosive weapons.

“Without urgent action, more children will be pushed deeper into hardship, with lasting consequences for their survival, learning, and protection,” she said.