Humanitarian situation still worrying after 8 years of conflict

The escalating conflict in Yemen since March 2015 has created one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world affecting the life of millions of Yemenis. Years of conflict have exacerbated existing vulnerabilities; public services have ceased to operate and economic activities have collapsed, increasing reliance on humanitarian assistance. 23.4 million people are in need of humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs. Of these, 21.9 million people are in dire need of health support and 8.1 million of nutrition support, mainly women and children. 

Food insecurity is reaching unprecedented level and nearly 20 millions people are experiencing high levels of food insecurity. The conflict and the resulting economic crisis remain the main drivers of food insecurity. The national food availability is not sufficient to cover the needs of the population, which is pushing people to heavily rely on imported food commodities. Yet, the depreciation of the Yemeni Rial against the US dollar and persistent fuel shortages have led to a significant increase in the price of imported food commodities, making the minimum food basket unaffordable for a large part of the population of the country.

Moreover, 18 million people lack access to basic health services and only half of health facilities are fully functional. Nearly 82 % of districts are in severe need of health assistance. The need is even greater for women and children, as only 20% health facilities can provide integrated maternal, and child services. While these health facilities themselves face frequent stock out of medical supplies and drugs as well as a lack of trained medical staff. The COVID 19 pandemic as reduced even more the availability of health services in Yemen, putting women and children at higher risk of malnutrition.

Essential public services, including health and nutrition, as well as water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) services have also been widely disrupted by years of conflict. Limited access to these basic services, combined with elevated levels of food insecurity heavily contribute to the deterioration of the nutrition situation across the country, and to the increase risk of cholera outbreak.

To cope with the needs, Action Against Hunger is supporting the provision of integrated health, nutrition and WASH services at health facility level in Al Hodeidah and Hajjah governorate in order to contribute to the reduction of mortality due to malnutrition and childhood illness particularly among pregnant and lactating women as well as children under five.

Action Against Hunger is working in Yemen since 2013. Since the beginning of the war in 2015, our teams have put special emphasis on alleviating the suffering of internally displaced people and vulnerable host communities. Maintaining on operational presence in some of the worst affected areas of the country and supporting those hardest to reach remained our greatest challenge.

Action Against Hunger develops nutrition and health programs in Hodeidah, Hajjah, Abyan and Lahj governorates especially to support pregnant lactating women and children under five suffering from mmodrate and severe acute malnutrition. This also involved training of health workers and sensitization of communities. Action Against Hunger response also covers reinforcement to access to water, hygiene and sanitation through the rehabilitation of water points and latrines, hygiene promotion and distribution of hygiene kits.

In total in 2022, Action Against Hunger have helped more than 200 000 people in Yemen