UN: Half of Yemen’s Births Not Attended by Trained Personnel

11,000 Yemenis have benefited from reproductive health services supported by UNFPA. (UN)
11,000 Yemenis have benefited from reproductive health services supported by UNFPA. (UN)
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UN: Half of Yemen’s Births Not Attended by Trained Personnel

11,000 Yemenis have benefited from reproductive health services supported by UNFPA. (UN)
11,000 Yemenis have benefited from reproductive health services supported by UNFPA. (UN)

While Yemen continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis, a new UN report showed that more than half of Yemen’s births are run in unsafe spaces.

Over half of Yemen’s population requires aid due to economic collapse and failing services, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

This has led to increased child marriage and displacement, with climate shocks displacing almost half a million people in 2024, it said.

“The healthcare system is also struggling, with only 45% of births attended by trained personnel and a high burden of cholera,” UNFPA said in its Yemen Situation Report.

Humanitarian response efforts are hampered by access restrictions, particularly for female aid staff in Houthi-controlled areas, and security concerns, it added.

UNFPA said it is responding to the reproductive health crisis in Yemen on multiple fronts.

It is improving maternal and neonatal health services by providing reproductive health commodities, medicines, cash assistance, equipment and incentives for health care workers.

Additionally, UNFPA is rehabilitating health facilities affected by flooding, and also launched campaigns to increase demand for reproductive health services.

“We continue to support health institutes with training for students and midwives and have deployed mobile clinics to provide an integrated package of reproductive health services in remote and underserved areas,” the Fund added.

UNFPA said it is supporting midwives operating out of home-based clinics and providing treatment and care for women with obstetric fistula and is also investing in essential medical support services and the integration of women’s protection and reproductive health services.

In Yemen, UNFPA has provided multiple services to women, girls and young people, including case management, safe spaces, shelters, awareness-raising sessions and community dialogues.

The Fund reached nearly 11,000 women with multisectoral services, established nine new women and girls’ safe spaces, and supported eight shelters.

Moreover, UNFPA reached over 110,000 individuals with awareness-raising sessions and conducted six community dialogues.

The Fund advocated for the prevention of FGM and provided mental health services to over 150,000 people.

UNFPA provided services to young people, reaching 121,200 with reproductive health information and services.

Finally, through the Rapid Response Mechanism, the UN agency delivered life-saving assistance to over 43,000 individuals affected by conflict and natural disasters.

UNFPA Yemen leads the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility under the Protection Cluster, aiming to address both immediate humanitarian service delivery and effective prevention and risk reduction strategies for women’s protection.

UNFPA also leads information gathering to inform strategic decisions related to GBV prevention and mitigation; GBV humanitarian planning, implementation, resource mobilization, training, and monitoring of activities; and the Reproductive Health Working Group with the Health Ministry under the health cluster.

Furthermore, UNFPA chairs the inter-agency working group on youth alongside UNDP and leads the UN Rapid Response Mechanism, overseeing strategic coordination, resource mobilization and the development of implementation strategies to deliver immediate, life-saving assistance to displaced families.



Pope Speaks Against Forced Mass Displacement of Gaza Civilians

Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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Pope Speaks Against Forced Mass Displacement of Gaza Civilians

Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Pope Leo, whose role in advocating for peace in Gaza has become notably stark since Israel struck the territory's only Catholic church last week, told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that he opposed any forced displacement of Palestinians.

The Vatican said Abbas, who leads the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, had phoned the pope on Monday, three days after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called and expressed regret over the strike on Gaza's Holy Family church.

Israel has said the strike, which killed three people and wounded the church's parish priest, was a mistake, Reuters reported.

The small church in Gaza has been a focus of papal advocacy for peace throughout the war in the territory. Pope Leo's predecessor Pope Francis spoke to the parish nightly.

In Monday's conversation with Abbas, Leo condemned the "indiscriminate use of force" and any "forced mass displacement" of people in the Gaza Strip, the Vatican said.

Israel has said it wants Gazans to move to a special humanitarian zone in Gaza or leave the territory voluntarily. All mainstream Palestinian groups and neighbouring Arab states have rejected any plan that would displace them.

In emotional remarks on Sunday after his weekly Angelus prayer, Leo read out the names of those killed at the church in Gaza and called for an end to the "barbarity of war".