UN requests aid for more than 10 million Yemenis
The United Nations and its partners have introduced the 2025 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, calling for urgent humanitarian aid and protection for over 10 million Yemenis who are in need, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on January 21st.
In the plan, The UN said more than half of Yemen’s population, which is 19.5 million, requires some form of humanitarian assistance or protection.
The sharp decline of the Yemeni riyal, has exacerbated living conditions across the country. In areas under the legitimate government’s control, the riyal now trades at over 2,160 per US dollar. This financial crisis has also meant that authorities are finding it tricky to pay public sector salaries for the last four months.
Adding to these challenges, Yemen’s economic instability deepened when the Houthi militia halted oil exports, causing an electricity blackout in Aden, the temporary capital, lasting over 12 hours.
In the appeal, the UN sought $2.47 billion to assist over 19.5 million people, in which the aim is to provide life-saving support to 10.5 million of the most vulnerable individuals, said Julien Harneis, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.
Despite significant obstacles, Harneis highlighted that 197 aid organisations (two-thirds being local Yemeni groups) provided critical assistance to over eight million people last year.
This effort was made possible through donor contributions, which exceeded $1.4 billion to the Humanitarian Response Plan of 2024.
However, Harneis emphasised the need for even greater support in 2025 to address urgent needs, work towards peace, revitalise the economy and help communities build resilience through sustainable development initiatives.
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has been further compounded by climate shocks, increased regional frictions, and severe underfunding of essential humanitarian sectors, Harneis notes.
Over 17 million people—almost half of Yemen’s population—are expected to face severe food insecurity in 2025, with 5 million due to experience emergency-level food shortages.
Additionally, 13.6 million people struggle to access safe and sufficient water supplies. Meanwhile, 40% of Yemen’s healthcare facilities are either partially functional or entirely out-of-service due to a lack of staff, funding, medicines, electricity, and adequate infrastructure.
The UN’s requested $2.7 billion for a humanitarian response plan in 2024 but received insufficient pledges for funding, leaving big gaps in addressing the needs of those targeted.
Jamal Belfaqih, head of Yemen’s Supreme Relief Committee, affirmed the amount of humanitarian needs announced by the UN, its agencies and global organisations.
However, he criticised the appeal, saying that the appeal that agencies ask for does not meet their efforts to achieve funding.
Belfaqih also highlighted challenges faced by humanitarian agencies in reaching affected populations, including limited data and demographic shifts caused by internal displacement.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Belfaqih noted that donor funding for the response plan might fall short due to inadequate promotion of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
“The relief organisations have not changed their response plan methods since 2015, despite their failure to meet the needs of the Yemenis and to end or reduce the humanitarian crisis,” he said.
For 2025, the estimated number of people in need of humanitarian aid has risen to 19.5 million—an increase of 1.3 million from the previous year.
Approximately 4.8 million people, primarily women and children, are internally displaced, many experiencing cycles of repeated displacement and growing dependency on aid.
During a briefing to the Security Council, Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, described the dire situation in Yemen as a continuing humanitarian and protection crisis.
Roughly half the population—over 17 million people—cannot meet their basic food needs, with marginalised groups, including women, girls, displaced and communities like the Muhamasheen, bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Msuya also reported that nearly half of Yemeni children under five have moderate to severe stunting due to malnutrition, while cholera is at alarming levels.
Asharq Al-Awsat
