Yemen crisis set to worsen in 2026 as aid dries up

Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is expected to deteriorate significantly in 2026 as food insecurity deepens and international funding continues to decline, the UN warned on January 15th, according to Al-Monitor reporting from Geneva.

Julien Harneis, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said the scale of the crisis risks remaining largely unnoticed until mortality rates rise sharply. Speaking to reporters, he described conditions in the country as “very concerning” and warned that worsening needs could go under the radar in the absence of sustained international attention.

UN figures show that 19.5 million people in Yemen required humanitarian assistance in 2025, while the organisation’s response plan was funded at just 28%, or $688 million, as outlined in earlier UN appeals for aid to millions of Yemenis.

Harneis said the number of people in need has since increased to around 21 million, while donor support continues to dry up; food insecurity is worsening nationwide, particularly along the Red Sea coast.

 He also warned that Yemen’s health system, which was supported for a decade by the UN and the World Bank, will no longer receive sufficient funding to operate effectively, leaving the population increasingly exposed to disease.

Yemenis are likely to become more vulnerable to epidemics such as cholera, measles and polio in the coming year. Harneis said he fears that “we won’t hear about this until mortality and morbidity rise significantly next year.”

Cuts to foreign aid under US President Donald Trump, alongside tighter budgets among other donor countries, have compounded the funding crisis.

Harneis noted that while the United States was once Yemen’s largest donor, it is no longer. He said he hoped US funding would partially resume and called on Gulf countries to step up support.

“A humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a risk to the entire Arabian Peninsula,” Harneis warned, noting that infectious diseases do not respect borders.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government, based in Aden, is composed of rival factions united mainly by opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis, who seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and now control much of the north, a conflict that has also drawn in regional actors and military action against Houthi-controlled infrastructure.

Fighting between the two sides, backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, has killed hundreds of thousands and devastated the economy.

Harneis said the current emergency is driven less by active combat than by economic collapse, damaged infrastructure and the breakdown of essential services. He also warned that the detention of 73 UN staff members in Yemen, some held since 2021, has further constrained relief efforts.

“With our offices seized and our staff detained, the UN does not have the conditions to operate effectively,” he said. “To see the humanitarian response so hobbled is deeply alarming.”

Al-Monitor, Maghrebi.org